Euro 2012 Group A round-up:Greece beat Russia 1-0 in Warsaw with a first-half goal from captain Giorgos Karagounis to reach the quarter-finals, a result that sent the Russians home after the Czech Republic beat co-hosts Poland on a similar scoreline in Wroclaw.

Greece, winning for the first time in the tournament, went through as runners-up and will play the winners of Group B in the last eight.

Midfielder Karagounis, winning his 120th cap to equal the record for his country, made Russia pay for a flurry of missed chances when he scored against the run of play deep into first-half stoppage time.

Victory and his goal were bittersweet for Karagounis who will be suspended for the quarter-final after a second-half yellow card shown for diving.

Greece, facing a win-or-bust situation, began brightly with Kostas Katsouranis’s flicked volley punched away by Vyacheslav Malafeyev, but the Greeks were penned back for the rest of the opening half as Russia repeatedly let themselves down with wayward shooting that failed to test goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis.

Playmaker Alan Dzagoyev, with three goals in the first two games, blazed wildly over and Alexander Kerzhakov’s fierce shot flew narrowly wide.

The pattern continued as the game progressed but there was no end product to Russia’s neat interplay and movement, orchestrated by Andrei Arshavin in the free role behind striker Alexander Kerzhakov.

Russia’s pace and movement on the break gave Greece problems and Arshavin and Dzagoyev were a persistent menace.

Greece’s defence creaked and Sifakis’s goal was peppered from all angles but Russia’s radar was askew.

For Greece, lone striker Fanis Gekas was an isolated figure, with Giorgos Samaras having to track back to fortify his overworked midfield and defence as Russia probed down each flank.

But having withstood the pressure, Greece stunned the Russians in the closing seconds of the half as midfielder Karagounis took advantage of poor marking at a throw-in to race into the box and fire hard past Malafeyev.

Roman Shirokov and Igor Denisov were again off target after the break and the Greeks were convinced they should have been awarded a penalty when Karagounis tumbled as Sergei Ignashevich stuck out a leg.

Instead, Karagounis was booked for diving, much to his dismay as coach Fernando Santos held his hands to his head on the touchline.

Greece defender Giorgos Tzavellas crashed a free kick against the angle of post and upright in a rare Greek attack in the second half.

Poland

slumped out of the competition in a 1-0 defeat to the

Czech Republic

in a game in which the co-hosts will rue a host of early missed chances.

The Czechs, without injured captain Tomas Rosicky, took the lead in the 72nd minute when Petr Jiracek took a pass from Milan Baros and jinked away from a defender before slotting past goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton for his second goal of the tournament.

Poland, roared on by the home crowd and needing a win to go through, started the game at a furious pace and will regret their profligacy after missing several chances to go ahead.

The Czechs were fortunate when a sloppy back pass left striker Robert Lewandowski with a chance but he skewed his effort off target under pressure from Theodor Gebre Selassie.

Clearly missing their playmaker Rosicky, the Czechs eventually settled down after a nervy opening 15 minutes and began putting the Polish defence under pressure with Vaclav Pilar providing a threat down the wing most of the night.

The Czechs started the second half strongly knowing they needed a goal to book a quarter-final ticket with Pilar causing all sorts of headaches with his runs at the defence.

The pressure finally paid off with Jiracek's neat finish after a pass from much-criticised forward Milan Baros who played his best game of the tournament so far.

Poland frantically poured forward in search of an equaliser to keep their hopes alive but the Czechs defended in waves and held on to advance to the last eight.