From the moment Poland's Robert Lewandowski scored the opening goal of the tournament with a brilliant header against Greece, Euro 2012 has served up one great moment after another during a thrilling group stage.Superb goals have followed including Mario Balotelli's volley against Ireland, German Mario Gomez's first strike against the Netherlands and Jakub Blaszczykowski's stunning equaliser for Poland against Russia.
The quality remained until the end with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's exquisitely executed volley for Sweden against France arguably the pick of the bunch.
In keeping with the exciting and unpredictable thrills of the first phase, Russia made a dramatic impact with a blistering 4-1 win over the Czech Republic but failed to advance after drawing with Poland and losing to Greece.
Text: Reuters
Images: AP
Image: Poland's Jakub Blaszczykowski celebrates after he scored during the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Poland and Russia in Warsaw, Poland, Tuesday, June 12, 2012.
