Germany's Lukas Podolski (right) shoots the ball past Poland's goalkeeper Artur Boruc to score the opening goal during the group B match between Germany and Poland in Klagenfurt, Austria, yesterday, at the Euro 2008 European Soccer Championships. - AP

VIENNA, Austria (AP):

The group favourites continued to roll at the European Championship yesterday and the co-hosts continued to lose.

Three-time European champion Germany, the team considered by many to beat at this year's competition, took the lead in Group B by beating Poland 2-0 in Klagenfurt for its first win at the continental tournament since the Euro 1996 final. Lukas Podolski scored a goal in each half.

Lowest-ranked team

Co-host Austria, who are the lowest-ranked team at No. 92, lost to Croatia 0-1 despite some solid play in the second half in Vienna at Ernst Happel Stadium, the venue for the final on June 29. Luka Modric scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the fourth minute.

"This is the worst possible start you can have in an opening game of a tournament," Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said. "For the first 30 minutes, the team wasn't playing well, we were nervous. But after that we followed our tactical plan and we did it well. We even dominated the second half."

Toughest group

Today, the toughest group at the 16-team tournament gets going with World Cup champion Italy taking on the Netherlands in Bern and France facing Romania in Zurich.

Co-host Switzerland opened the tournament Saturday with a 0-1 loss to the Czech Republic in Basel. Group A favourite Portugal beat Turkey 2-0 in Geneva.

Germany stretched their unbeaten streak against the Poles to 16 games, getting both goals from a player who was born in Poland.

Podolski, who moved to Germany as a child, started as a left midfielder instead of in his usual striker role and justified the selection by scoring his first goal of the match in the 20th minute. Mario Gomez flicked the ball through the defence to Miroslav Klose, who squared to Podolski with goalkeeper Artur Boruc scrambling to get back to his line.

Miskick

In the 73rd, Bastian Schweinsteiger shook off a half-hearted challenge by Pawel Golanski and fed Klose, who miskicked the ball but it bounced to Podolski, who volleyed it in from close range.

Outside the stadium in the southern Austrian town, police detained about 100 hooligans for shouting Nazi-like slogans. About 60 people were detained first and then a second group of 40 was taken into custody later. There were no reports of violence against police, but the Austria Press Agency said several German and Polish fans clashed after Germany took a 1-0 lead in the first half.