The Spaniards delivered the Irish a lesson in football, thumping the Boys in Green 4-0 on their way to going top of their group. Republic of Ireland are now out of the contention for a quarter-final place, having failed to gain even a single point till now. Vicente del Bosque had replaced makeshift striker Fabregas with Chelsea star Fernando Torres, and the change paid immediate dividends with the hitman grabbing a goal in the 4^th minute of the game. Republic of Ireland had managed to equalise against the Croatians after similarly conceding an early goal, but the defending Champions did not allow them time on the ball. The second-half saw the Spaniards be more clinical in attack, scoring three past the hapless Shay Given who did have some excellent saves to show for his evening out. The European and World Champions have stamped their authority on Euro 2012 as they bid to make history by winning three consecutive tournaments.

World Champions Spain faced a rather inexperienced (in terms of major tournaments) Republic of Ireland side with both teams looking for their first victory of Euro 2012. Such was the difference in raw ability on display that the match could well have been billed as a Spanish La Liga A Dream team vs. Premier League Reserve team. However, what Ireland lacked in ability, they made up for in desire and hunger. But would it be enough?

A 1-1 draw between Italy and Croatia set up an intriguing last round of matches in Group C, with Cesare Prandelli's side gifting Croatia a point after dominating most of the encounter in Poznan. Italy, much like their game against Spain, drew first blood against Croatia, with Andrea Pirlo curling in a trademark freekick on the stroke of halftime to give them a lead. But Croatia were allowed a way back into the game as the Azzurri sat back in the second half. It was an invitation that they grabbed with both hands, with Mario Mandzukic benefitting from a defensive error to find an equaliser and deny Italy their first win of the competition. As a result, Croatia now sit with 4 points from 2 games while Italy have just 2 from 2. The Azzurri will have to beat Ireland in their last group match to stand any chance of making it to the knock-out rounds.

Italy manager Cesare Prandelli persisted with his three-man backline, with regular midfielder Daniele deRossi starting alongside Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci after impressing against Spain in their previous encounter. Claudio Marchisio and ThiagoMotta were given the roles of enforcers in the Azzurri midfield, with Emanuele Giaccherini and Christian Maggio flanking veteran Andrea Pirlo ahead of the duo. Despite netting Italy's opener last time around, Antonio di Natale was left on the sidelines once again in favour of Mario Balotelli, the enigmatic young starlet starting for the Italians alongside Antonio Cassano upfront.

The Germans warded off a late Netherlands comeback to go top of Group B with a 2-1 victory in Kharkiv on Wednesday night. The clinical finishing of striker Mario Gomez was the major difference between the rivals, with Dutch striker Van Persie being wasteful again before finally getting a goal late in the game to give his team a lifeline. It was an entertaining end-to-end game which lived up to the pre-match hype, but Germany were just that little bit superior everywhere on the pitch and were very much deserving of their three points. The Germans hence now have two wins out of two, and need just a point to guarantee qualification as group-leaders. The Netherlands meanwhile are amazingly still in the running, but would need something of a minor miracle to go through. They need to beat Portugal and see Denmark lose to Germany, after which goal difference would decide which one of the three teams goes through as runners-up, with Germany being top of the group.

Portugal left it very late, but eventually scored the winner to grab a much-needed victory over Denmark in Lviv to grab their first points of Euro 2012 and give themselves a fighting chance of qualifying into the knockout rounds. They looked to be heading for a comfortable win in the first period after strikes from Pepe and Helder Postiga gave them a two-goal cushion. Denmark, however, were in no mood to leave without a point to show for their efforts, and incredibly scored twice on either side of halftime through Nicklas Bendtner to bring the score back on level terms. While Cristiano Ronaldo squandered a number of great chances for Portugal, it was substitute Silvestre Varela who turned hero for the night, hitting a screamer in the 87th minute to give Portugal a 3-2 win and as a result all three points, in turn helping them join Denmark and Germany on top of Group B.

Denmark manager Morten Olsen kept an unchanged side from their first fixture of the tournament, and understandably so after their impressive victory against the mighty Dutch. Nicklas Bendtner led the line on his own again for the Danes, with highly-rated starlet Christian Eriksen, Dennis Rommedahl and goalscorer from the previous game Michael Krohn-Dehli forming the supply line for the Arsenal man. Niki Zimling and William Kvist formed the partnership in the centre of midfield, with Daniel Agger and Simon Kjaer playing in tandem behind them at centre-half. Simon Poulsen and Lars Jacobsen flanked them on the wings, with Stephan Anderson rewarded for his clean sheet against Netherlands with another start ahead of Anders Lindegaard and Kasper Schmeichel.

Co-hosts Poland battled hard against favourites Russia to earn their second 1-1 draw of the tournament. Captain Jakub Błaszczykowski had put the Poles back on level terms just before the hour mark after the tournament’s top scorer Alan Dzagoev had given the Russians a first half lead. Poland’s first-match nervousness was all gone as they displayed some beautiful passing football against a Russian team which were expected to sweep them aside. The co-hosts have kept their hopes alive and their next match against the Czechs would be as a result be a virtual knock-out. The Russians were slow off the block once again and seemed under pressure to deliver on this day of national importance (Russia Day). The Poles though drew inspiration from a capacity crowd and wanted it more, pushing themselves forward till the very end. A draw was a fair result and sets up the group beautifully, with no team out of the competition just yet.

Poland made a couple of changes to the team that started against Greece, with Przemysław Tytoń coming in for the suspended Wojciech Szczęsny and Dariusz Dudka starting in place of Maciej Rybus. Robert Lewandowski was the lone man up top once again and had support from Ludovic Obraniak and Dortmund teammate and Captain Jakub Blaszczykowski, who acted as attacking wingers. The defensive line was a bit suspect and inexperienced and the manager was quick to tinker with it just a bit.

Two quick goals in the first six minutes of the game helped the Czech Republic overcome a tough Greece side 2-1 in Wroclaw, the win helping the Czechs boost their hopes of a quarterfinal berth. Having been drubbed 4-1 by Russia on the opening day, Michal Bilek's side needed a strong start to the game in order to calm their nerves, and got just that as Petr Jiracek and Vaclav Pilar notched two goals in the space of three minutes to take the wind out of Greece's sails. To their credit, however, the Greeks fought back much like they did against Poland and scored in the second period through Theofanis Gekas, but could not get the decisive second goal. The result meant that the Czechs climb to joint-first in the group with the three points level with Russia, who take on co-hosts Poland later tonight. For the Greeks though qualification is all but impossible as they would need a remarkable set of results to go their way to sneak in through the back door.

Greece manager Fernando Santos made three changes to the side that drew against Poland on the opening fixture of the tournament, with Georgios Samaras moving into the central striker's spot in place of Theofanis Gekas. Sotiris Ninis missed out as well, with substitute goalscorer Dimitris Salpingidis earning a place in the starting eleven along with Kostas·Fortounis. The other two changes were enforced upon the Greeks with Sokratis Papastathopoulos suspended and Avraam Papadopoulos injured, and Santos chose to start Kostas Katsouranis out of his natural position in the heart of defence alongside Kyriakos Papadopoulos instead of installing a new centre-half partnership, instead playing Georgios Fotakis alongside skipper Giorgios Karagounis and Giannis Maniatis in the centre of midfield.

Co-hosts Ukraine have taken a shock lead in Group D with a stunning come from behind 2-1 win against Sweden courtesy a brace from veteran striker and talismanic skipper Andriy Shevchenko. The 35-year old legendary striker playing in his last major international tournament scored twice within the space of 8 minutes, using his head on both occasions to lead Ukraine to an incredible win in front of a packed house at NSC Olympiyskiy, Kiev. Swedish captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic had given his side a controversial lead early in the second half with a simple finish from a Kim Kallstrom cross, while a Ukraine defender lay on the ground writhing in pain, but the visitors opted to play to the referee's whistle. The result throws Group D wide open, after favourites France and England played out a dull 1-1 draw earlier in the day.

Debutants Ukraine had Andriy Pyatov in goal, with a back four of Yevgen Selin, Yevhen Khacheridi, Taras Mikhalik and Oleg Gusev guarding him. Having employed a defensive 4-1-2-1-2 formation, the experienced Anatoliy Tymoshchuk took up the position sitting in front of the back four, flanked by Andriy Yarmolenko and Evgeni Konoplyanka. Serhiy Nazerenko was the lone attacking midfielder, with European legend Andriy Shevchenko and former Liverpool striker Andriy Voronin leading the team in attack.