Energized Austria boosts its last-16 hopes

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BERLIN, June 22, (AP): Austria boosted its last-16 hopes at the European Championship by defeating Poland 3-1 and eliminating the Poles in the group stage.

Gernot Trauner, Christoph Baumgartner, and Marko Arnautovic scored for Austria while Krzysztof Piatek had Poland’s first-half equalizer.

Robert Lewandowski, who missed Poland’s first match against the Netherlands due to an injury, came on in the second half but failed to make an impact, and was booked after just five minutes on the pitch.
“We are depressed by this result but we still have one more game in our group and we need to put our best foot forward and try to win three points,” Lewandowski told Poland’s TVP Sport.

Poland’s slim chance of surviving the group stage disappeared hours later when the Netherlands and France drew 0-0, which ensured the Poles would finish last in Group D with one match remaining.

Austria, fresh off losing to France, came out blazing and took the lead within 10 minutes when Trauner headed in a cross from Philipp Mwene.
The Poles clawed their way back and leveled just before the half-hour mark, with Piatek slotting in a rebound from close range.

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