The Czech Republic kept alive their hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 with a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Greece in Group A.
The Czechs knew they were in real in danger of becoming the first side to be eliminated from the tournament had they lost.
But they made a lightening start, scoring twice inside the opening six minutes of the game at the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw.
Tomas Hubschman's defence splitting pass was collected by Petr Jiracek and the striker stayed calm and composed to slot his left-foot shot past goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias.
Just three minutes later the Czech fans were in dreamland as Gebre Selassie found space down the right and his resulting cross was turned into the back of the net by Vaclav Pilar's knee from close-range, despite the attention of two defenders.
Greece thought they had pulled a goal back just before the break, but Giorgos Fotakis' header was harshly ruled out for offside.
However, eight minutes into the second half Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech gifted Greece a lifeline after fumbling Georgios Samaras' low cross on the edge of the box to Theofanis Gekas, whose eyes lit up before calmly slotted the ball into a gaping goal.
The second match of the day in Group A between Poland and Russia finished 1-1 so all four nations still have hope they can reach the quarter-finals.
Russia top the standings on four points followed by Czech Republic on three points, Poland on two points and Greece on one point.
Czech Republic coach Michal Bilek hopes that captain Tomas Rosicky will be available for the conclusion of their Group A campaign after limping off against Greece.
Arsenal midfielder Rosicky was forced off at half-time after picking up an Achilles injury.
And Bilek admitted he is a doubt for their final Group A fixture against co-hosts Poland on Saturday.
He said: "With Rosicky it was his Achilles so it was unpleasant for him and we will see tomorrow what the extent of the problem us, but obviously we hope he will be there for the third match in the group as he is an important player.
"We missed him in the second half as he is a key player for us in attack as he can add tempo our game."
But Bilek praised his side for their aggressive start to the match.
He said: "It was a great start and this time we were fortunate enough to score two goals.
"In the first half we were great, our combinations were good, we were dangerous and the goals proved that.
Greece coach Fernando Santos, meanwhile, felt his side had paid the price for being unable to field their first-choice centre-halves.
He said: "It was a game which started really badly for us.
"At the start we conceded two goals, although we had been warned that they would start quickly. We knew they would put pressure on us but we failed to respond.
"The Greek defence has only conceded four goals in 10 competitive game and now we have conceded three in just two games.
"Unfortunately the first 10 minutes really cost us.
"It was difficult to come back, we did everything possible to get an equaliser but we didn't make it."
