Austria gets late penalty to earn 1-1 draw against Poland at Euro 2008

Mariusz Lewandowski pulled the shirt of Sebastian Proedl in the area on a free kick and the referee awarded the Austrians a penalty. Vastic, a second-half substitute and the oldest player in the tournament at 38, sent his shot to the goalkeeper's right.

- It was clear that Ivica would assume that responsibility because he is the most experienced on the team - Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said. - I was 99.9 percent sure he would score.

Brazilian-born playmaker Roger Guerreiro gave Poland the lead by tapping in a 30th-minute cross from Marek Saganowski for his first international goal since he received Polish citizenship in April. A counterattack carried the ball up the field and Euzebiusz Smolarek sent a long cross-field pass to Saganowski. The forward turned inside and put a pass across goal that beat goalkeeper Juergen Macho and defender Martin Stranzl, giving Roger a simple chance to tap in.

The result means Croatia has clinched first place in Group B after its 2-1 win over Germany. The other three teams in the group all have a chance to join the Croats in the knockout round in their final games on Monday, but Poland coach Leo Beenhakker already seemed to be conceding defeat

with a tough match against Croatia to come. - With a win, yes, we would have the same points as

Germany - Beenhakker said. - But now we don't have it in our own hands any more and the conclusion is that we are out of the tournament.

Austria had been utterly dominate early, outshooting the Poles 7-1 and forcing three corners to a single kick by Poland before Roger scored at Ernst Happel Stadium.

Austria had dominated the opening exchanges Thursday and could have been ahead 4-0 before Poland mounted its first

serious attack. Andreas Ivanschitz shot wide with only Artur Boruc to beat before the goalkeeper made three good saves.

Boruc's first stop came from Martin Harnik's low shot toward the far corner after the Austria player had robbed the dawdling Mariusz Jop of possession, the next at close range from Harnik following a run and cross down the left by Umit Korkmaz, and the third from Christoph Leitgeb, who had beat the offside trap before shooting low.

Boruc had also made a routine stop from a long-range free kick by the lively Ivanschitz before his own team's first real foray upfield ended with Dariusz Dudka giving away possession in the area when he should have tried to shoot. Roger had only been a substitute in Poland's opening defeat to Germany, but earned a starting place Thursday after a second-half appearance in which he livened up Poland's previously moribund attack. The goal temporarily silenced the previously deafening Austrian fans in a sold-out crowd of 51,428 and lifted Poland's players, who suddenly seemed the equal of their counterparts.

Seemingly happy with the improvement in his team's performance, if not its finishing, since its 1-0 opening loss to Croatia, Hickersberger kept the same team for the second half. Leo Beenhakker made one change to Poland, replacing the hapless Jop with Pawel Golanski.

Austria continued to press for a goal, but Poland looked dangerous on the counterattack and had an early chance when Smolarek surged into the area, but Macho blocked it. And after Macho had made a double save from Jacek Bak and Dudka, Hickersberger made an attacking double substitution in the 64th _ bringing on Vastic and striker Roman Kienast for Ivanschitz and Roland Linz. Hickersberger's final move was the introduction of Juergen Saeumel in place of Rene Aufhauser 10 minutes later.

Lineups:

Austria: Juergen Macho, Martin Stranzl, Sebastian Proedl, Emanuel Pogatetz, Gyorgy Garics, Christoph Leitgeb, Umit Korkmaz, Andreas Ivanschitz (Ivica Vastic, 64), Rene Aufhauser (Juergen Saeumel, 74), Roland Linz (Roman Kienast, 64), Martin Harnik.

Poland: Artur Boruc, Michal Zewlakow, Marcin Wasilewski, Mariusz Lewandowski, Mariusz Jop (Pawel Golanski, 46), Dariusz Dudka, Jacek Bak, Jacek Krzynowek, Roger Guerreiro (Rafal Murawski, 85), Euzebiusz Smolarek, Marek Saganowski (Wojciech Lobodzinski, 83).