[GERMANY-POLAND REPORT CARD] Germany won its first European Championship game since its victory in the 1996 final when in its Group B opener it downed Poland, 2-0. German striker Lukas Podalski, who was born in Poland, scored in the 20th and 72nd minutes. Each was set up by Miroslav Klose, another Polish-born German. The Germans dominated the first half but the Poles picked up steam after the halftime entry of Roger Guerreiro. Soccer America's Mike Woitalla grades the players.

Germany Player Ratings
GRADE PLAYER (CLUB) GP/G
6 Jens Lehmann (Arsenal) 56/0
6 Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich) 42/2
5 Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen) 44/1
5 Christoph Metzelder (Real Madrid) 42/0
5 Marcell Jansen (Bayern Munich) 23/1
6 Clemens Fritz (Werder Bremen) 15/2
5 Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen) 73/10
7 Michael Ballack (Chelsea) 82/36
7 Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich) 76/39
8 Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich) 49/27
4 Mario Gomez (VfB Stuttgart) 11/6
Subs:
6 Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich) 52/13
5 Thomas Hitzlsperger (VfB Stuttgart) 34/5
NR Kevin Kuranyi (Schalke 04) 48/19

Poland Player Ratings
GRADE PLAYER (CLUB) GP/G
7 Artur Boruc (Celtic) 35/0
4 Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest) 11/1
5 Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna) 95/3
4 Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos) 77/2
4 Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht) 28/1
6 Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk) 48/3
5 Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow) 27/2
4 Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow) 17/2
4 Jacek Krzynowek (Wolfsburg) 80/15
3 Ebi Smolarek (Racing Santander) 32/13
3 Maciej Zurawski (Larissa) 72/17
Subs:
7 Roger Guerreiro (Legia Warsaw) 3/0
5 Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin) 4/0
4 Marek Saganowski (Southampton) 24/3

(1-low; 5-average; 10-high)