Poland 1 Greece 1

So after all the hype Euro 2012 finally got under way with Poland entertaining 2004 winners Greece in Warsaw. Rarely do opening matches live up to the expectation that precedes it; the host nation caught up in the frenzy with an expectant crowd, and the visitors happy to take a point. This, in terms of football, may have been much the same, but it certainly had some drama.

Lets be honest, at half time everybody thought Greece looked dreadful. In fact I'm pretty sure it was the worst Greece performance since that dodgy Michelle Pfeiffer sequel. We knew exactly how the Greeks would line up and they didn't disappoint. Why would they change a winning formula; one that bored Europe to tears eight years ago but, ultimately, ended up with the trophy?

Poland, on the other hand, played well in the first forty-five minutes. Spurred on by their fans, they were fast out the blocks and pinned their opponents back from the first whistle. When the pressure finally told it was, as many predicted, Lewandowski who got the goal. Blaszczykowski burst down the right wing for the umpteenth time and delivered an excellent cross for the in-demand Dortmund striker to head home. By half time the Poles should have extended their lead but, instead, the real talking point was reserved for the side show of referee Carlos Velasco Carballo. I'm sure he, like everyone else, was looking forward to the game but, undoubtedly, the occasion proved to big for the Spaniard who ran around flashing cards at anyone who questioned why he was always smiling (Nothing annoys footballers as much as a smiling, useless referee!). In the words of Alan Hansen "the second yellow card was a bad decision but the first one was crazy!" Unfortunately for Papastathopoulos two yellows equalled red and Greece were in real trouble.

It may be a cliche but yet again we heard the word "football is a game of two halves", and it really was in this match. First, Greece equalised courtesy of some Szczesny goalkeeping right out of the Alumina handbook and suddenly it was they who looked the better side, spurred by a sense of injustice. It was substitute Salpingidis who drew them level and the little bearded winger, who will surely start their second match, was involved in the next talking point twenty minutes later. Timing his run to perfection to break the offside trap the PAOK man was brought down by Szczesny for a penalty - and a red card for the Arsenal man. As most observers struggled to find the words to explain what they were seeing, old-hand Karagounis picked his spot only to watch sub keeper Tyton guess correctly and make the save.

The missed penalty seemed to knock the stuffing out of Greece who quickly reverted to type. The Poles, torn between relief they weren't losing and shock that they had thrown away an easy three points, couldn't find the inspiration needed to snatch a win. As a result we ended with the usual opening game scoreline of 1-1, leaving Russia and the Czechs the opportunity to gain a potentially decisive advantage in the later kick off.

What did you make of the performances in the opening match?