Germany captain Michael Ballack booked his side’s place in the UEFA EURO 2008 quarter-finals with a thunderous free-kick, ending the hopes of Austria despite a valiant effort from the co-hosts in Vienna.

Clinical strike
To overtake their opponents and claim the runners-up spot in Group B, Austria needed to beat their neighbours – something they had not achieved since defeating West Germany in 1986. The home team enjoyed long periods of possession but, as in their February friendly loss in this stadium against the same opposition, were made to pay for a lack of a cutting edge up front – Ballack settling the contest in the 49th minute with a characteristically clinical set-piece. Coach Joachim Löw, who was sent to the stands with his Austria counterpart Josef Hickersberger just before half-time, can look forward to a quarter-final against Group A winners Portugal, in Basel on Thursday.

Remarkable miss
Josef Hickersberger made three changes to the side that snatched a last-gasp draw with Poland on Thursday, surprisingly giving 21-year-old Erwin Hoffer his second senior start in place of Roland Linz up front. If that was designed to improve the co-hosts’ potency, it initially backfired as Germany enjoyed the better of the early exchanges and, but for a remarkable Mario Gómez miss, the home crowd would have been silenced by the fifth minute. Miroslav Klose was the architect of the move, tricking his way down the right and delivering a low cross that bypassed goalkeeper Jürgen Macho, only for Gómez to mistime his shot at the unguarded net, allowing György Garics to head his looping effort off the line.

Austria advance
Gómez then drew a regulation save from Macho with a low angled drive, before Hoffer began to provide evidence of the poaching skills that made him such a prolific scorer in his country’s youth teams, narrowly failing to control an Andreas Ivanschitz cross which would have left him clear. Austria nevertheless took heart from that opening and enjoyed their first spell of sustained pressure, Jens Lehmann diving to his right to touch behind René Aufhauser’s low shot, although Macho had to do likewise to keep out a Lukas Podolski attempt from distance.

Ballack breakthrough
With so much at stake, it was little surprise that tensions were running high on and off the field, and following a heated exchange on the touchline Josef Hickersberger and Löw were dismissed. It was the latter whose side seemed less affected by their coach’s absence, however, and within four minutes of the restart Germany were ahead. Andreas Ivanschitz pulled down Philipp Lahm as the left-back drove forward and Ballack exploited the resulting free-kick to the full, driving an unstoppable shot high into the net from 25 metres.

Positive omen
Lahm and Podolski both missed the target while Macho saved from Per Mertesacker and Klose as Germany sought to increase their advantage. Nonetheless, Austria never lost heart and Hoffer flashed a shot just wide of Lehmann’s goal. Germany have now won their last five games against these opponents and at the final whistle celebrated reaching the last eight for the first time since 1996 – when they went on to lift the trophy. Meanwhile, for the first time no host nation will be represented in the knockout rounds.

Romania midfielder Mirel Rădoi is set to miss the rest of UEFA EURO 2008 after being told he will have to wait at least a fortnight before he can resume training after facial surgery.
Painful collision
The 27-year-old FC Steaua Bucureşti player broke his nose and a bone underneath his left eye following a collision with team-mate Răzvan Rat during Friday’s 1-1 draw with Italy in Group C. Rădoi will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair the damage but a spokesman for the Romanian national side said the team doctor has told the player he will be sidelined for at least two weeks, effectively ruling him out of the rest of a tournament which concludes on 29 June.

Since the news broke that Luiz Felipe Scolari would be swapping Lisbon for London next month to take the reins at Chelsea FC, Portugal’s impressive progress to the last eight of UEFA EURO 2008™ has risked becoming a mere subplot to the main story of the Brazilian’s impending departure.

Focus on present
Inevitably there have been concerns expressed about the timing of the news and its impact on a Portugal squad who, through their opening wins over Turkey and the Czech Republic, had emerged as strong early contenders for the European crown. According to Nuno Gomes, one of the group’s most experienced members, however, those fears are quite unfounded. "The players are concentrating on what we have to do and what we are here for and Mr Scolari is focused on what he has to do - on the present," said the SL Benfica forward. "He is doing what he has to do and we are paying attention only to this tournament and nothing else."

Barometer
So no negative impact at all? "The mood hasn’t changed. We are calm, we are cool," he replied. As a barometer of the mood within the Portugal squad, Nuno Gomes is probably as reliable as anyone. The only survivor of the team that reached the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2000, the 31-year-old surpassed Luís Figo’s record of appearances in major tournaments - of which this is is his fifth - when making his 17th in the 3-1 win over the Czech Republic and is now just two shy of Figo’s 14 in UEFA European Championships.

Final aim
Nuno Gomes, who scored five goals in the 2000 tournament, has played in a semi-final and a final on Europe’s élite stage and is aware how difficult it will be for the Group A winners to go one step further this time. "All the teams we are going to face from now on will be strong teams but obviously we would love to get to the final. That is our aim but we are worried - first of all to find out who we will face in the quarter-final." Germany, second in Group B, are currently on course to play Portugal and Nuno Gomes said: "We saw Germany’s first game and liked the team a lot. Against Croatia they didn’t play very well but they still have a good team and, theoretically, are one of the favourites.
‘Keep up good work’
"But you have to play the big teams - at EURO 2004, we faced Spain in the group stage and then Holland and England," he added. "In the World Cup we played against those teams [Netherlands and England] again." Before that, of course, Portugal face Sunday’s final group fixture against an eliminated Switzerland side. Nuno Gomes will probably be one of several players to be rested but he stressed that "the team that will play will do everything possible to get a third victory". He continued: "It doesn’t change the importance of it - we don’t want to be defeated, nobody likes to lose and the team playing will be determined to keep up the good work and keep on performing as we have done."