Co-hosts Poland tied 1-1 with Russia in Euro 2012

WARSAW - Poland skipper Jakub Blaszczykowski blast home from the box edge to drag the co-hosts back from the bliss, tying 1-1 with Russia in the second round of the Euro 2012 Group A here on Tuesday.

Poland's Robert Lewandowski is challenged by Russia's Sergei Ignashevich during their Group A Euro 2012 soccer match at the National stadium in Warsaw June 12, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Blaszczykowski, the playmaker from Bundesliga champions Dortmund, was the Man of the Match. Answering a question after the match about his left-foot shot, Blaszczykowski said that although he made more right-foot shots, he did't have any weakness in his left-foot playing.

"The most important thing is the collectiveness. We play in a team. We must keep our unity," he noted.

Now, Russia are topping the group with four points, followed by the Czech Republic three points, Poland two, Greece one. Before the third and last round, all the four teams have chances to progress.

The first round witnessed Russia's 4-1 win over the Czech Republic and a 1-1 tie between Poland and Greece.

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda told the post-match press conference that Russia is a great team with many experienced players. "Today's match proved that we are able to win over the Czech Republic in the last round."

In today's quick-pace and offensive game, Russian forward Alan Dzagoev, who scored twice in the Czech game, broke the deadlock in the 37th minute when a free-kick was curled in from the left and the PFC CSKA Moskva man timed his run perfectly to flick his header past helpless Poland keeper Przemyslaw Tyton.

Right now, Dzagoev is the top scorer of the tournament with three goals from two games.

Russians dominated the first half. But after the interval, Poland launched waves of attacks, laying siege to the Russian goal. In the 57th minute, Blaszczykowski made a remarkable strike to tie the score. A rapid break down the right allowed the Dortmund midfielder to cut inside Yuri Zhirkov, levelled with the edge of the area, and unleashed a rocket from his left foot into the far corner.

The equalizer salvaged a crucial point for Poland and scuppered Russia's hopes of becoming the first team to book their place in the knockout stage.

Both sides squandered some scoring chances then and the match ended 1-1 with little injury time.

Russia coach Dick Advocaat said after the match that his team played better than Poland today. "We controlled the match," he noted.

However, Advocaat admitted that his players lost ball too fast in the second half, thus giving the Poles too many chances of counterattacking.