Portugal and Italy won the groups and got the best position in the final grid. After the group stage, the knockout tournament that begins on Thursday will lead to the most exciting phase of the European Championship in Oliveira de Azemeis.

Germany - England (3-1)
Defeating England 3-1, Germany conquered both the first victory in this European Championship and the third place in the Pool A. 5 minutes after the starting whistle, Germany took the leads thanks to Nusch's goal but they were not able to increase the gap during the numerical superiority after Mount's banishments. The same happened to the English team, few minutes later, when it was their turn in superiority due to the blue card for Miewski. At the end of the first period, the partial score is 2-0 thanks to Fonseca's goal in the last few minutes. In the restart, England reduced the gap thanks to Stewart, but Germany quickly answered and Pereira scored the 3-1. The guys of coach Berenbeck should have closed the match, but Peinke missed the direct free hit because of Stewart banishment. The two teams had in common the mistakes from the penalty spot: England missed two direct free hits and Germany a penalty. At the end of the match it is still 3-1.

Italy - France (2-2)
Amazing and balanced match between the two teams for the first place in the Group A. It was a tie thanks to the doubles for both Alessandro Verona (ITA) and Carlo Di Benedetto (FRA). The result awarded the "Azzurri": they kept the first position thanks to a better goals difference. Italy took the leads in power-play when the goalie Gelebart has been banished. France tied on a direct free hits after Illuzzi's fault, banished for 2 minutes; Di Bendetto, with a perfect hit, scored the 1-1. The tit-for-tat between the two players marked the first period. Verona surprised Gelebart thanks to a hit redirected by the French defence. Then it was the turn of Carlo Di Benedetto, who took advantage of an action leaded by Garcia. In the second period, France had many good chances to modify the match but missed a penalty, a direct free hit and a power-play. At 1 minutes to the end, France was not able to convert the tenth Italian fault and a few second later, same fate for Italy.

Spain - Switzerland (8-1)
After the hard defeat against Portugal, Spain needed a clear victory to get the second rank in the Group and to reach the quarter finals in the best conditions possible. The team coached by Quim Pauls got the full result: at the end of the first period, the match was already closed. It needed a few minutes to Spain to study Switzerland, then they quickly took the leads scoring in a raw thanks to Jordy Bargallo, Bancells, two more goals by Jordy Bargallo and Selva. Close to the final, Rettenmund scored the Consolation goal. Back from the locker rooms, Spain was still in the match and reached the 8-1 thanks to Baliu, Pau Bargallò and Cristian Rodriguez.

Portugal - Austria (14-1)
The position in the Group B- Portugal on the top and Austria on the bottom - mirrored the match: easy game for the Host team that dominated it since the beginning till the end. At the end of the first period, the score was 8-0 thanks to Josè Costa, Diogo Rafael, Gonçalo Alves, Reinaldo Ventura (2), Joao Rodrigues (2) and Ricardo Barreiros. Back from the locker rooms, Portugal kept the rhythm: Josè Costa (2), Ricardo Barreiros (2), Gonçalo Alves (2). Closing to the Wolf (AUS) scored the Consolation Goal and got the standing ovation of the Portuguese supporters.

GROUP A
Germany-England 3-1
Italy-France 2-2
Standing: Italy 7 points (gol average: +18), France 7 points (gol average: +3), Germany 3 points, England 0 points.

GROUP B
Spain-Switzerland 8-1
Portugal-Austria
Standing: Portugal 9 points, Spain 6 points, Switzerland 3 points, Austria 0 points.

SCHEDULE - QUARTERFINALS (Thursday, July 14th)
(The schedule has been changed due to television broadcasting)

4.00 PM WET - France vs Switzerland
6.00 PM WET - Italy vs Austria (live on Raisport 2)
8.00 PM WET - Germany vs Spain (live on Teledeporte)
10.00 PM WET - England vs Portugal (live on RTP 1)
All the matches will be broadcasted live on Cerh TV

Video, pictures, live score and updated infos on www.cerh.eu

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Pictures by Marzia Cattini