Austria and Poland drew to keep their Euro hopes alive in a rollercoaster game, reports Steve Pass.
Steve Pass feels Austria must build on a good display to have any chance against Germany
Austrians will be breathing a collective sigh of relief after an injury-time Ivica Vastic penalty salvaged a point for the co-hosts against Poland in Group B.
But supporters of the home nation will be wondering how they did not win this game after watching their team spurn three gilt-edged chances in quick succession in the opening quarter.
While Poland would have been out if they lost, Austria had the safety net of knowing beforehand that they could lose this clash in Vienna and still progress out of Group B.
The co-hosts had Croatia to thank for this favourable position as Slaven Bilic's men sprung a shock 2-1 victory over tournament favourites Germany earlier in the evening.
Their win meant Austria could not share the fate which befell joint hosts Switzerland the evening before when the Swiss crashed out of the tournament when they lost to Turkey.
Must-win
The Austrians now face Germany in a must-win game on Monday but will have to take their chances much better than they did in this match when poor-finishing - and Celtic keeper Artur Boruc's superb display - combined to deny the hosts.
Martin Harnik could have scored in the 11th minute but his effort was saved by man-of-the-match Boruc.
It was the first of three golden opportunities in six minutes for the Austrians, with the Polish shot-stopper then making another magnificent save to deny Harnik and then keeping out an effort by Christoph Leitgeb when the Austrian was one-on-one with the keeper.
While Boruc was excellent, the only other British-based player on show - Middlesbrough's Emanuel Pogatetz - was at fault for Poland's goal on 30 minutes in their first attack of the game.
Guerreiro goal
He failed to stop Marek Saganowski's cross, allowing Roger Guerreiro to score in the 30th minute against the run of play.
In the second period, Poland dominated but former Sunderland keeper Jurgen Macho kept them at bay with several good saves.
They then conceded an injury-time penalty for shirt-pulling which Vastic converted for a point.
English referee Howard Webb was officiating in his first major tournament game and did well. It was a big call to give the penalty but replays showed the decision was correct, although his linesman did not see that Guerreiro's goal was offside.
The result means Austria must now beat the Germans on Monday - and hope Croatia beat Poland - to qualify for the next stage.
But they must learn to be more clinical in front of goal or their dreams will come unstuck against a German team which will surely want to re-assert their authority with victory over their neighbours.
