born forward Lukas Podolski struck twice to give Germany a 2-0 win over Poland on Sunday, ending its 12-year wait for a victory at the European Championship Finals. Podolski tapped the ball into an empty net midway through the first half after Miroslav Klose, another Polish-born striker, burst through to set him up in the Group B game. Germany continued to threaten and made it 2-0 when Podolski volleyed home from 12 meters in the 72nd minute after the defense failed to clear. Victory extended Germany's unbeaten record against Poland to 16 games and secured its first win in the tournament since the final of Euro 1996. "We were highly concentrated and didn't make many mistakes," captain Michael Ballack told the German television station ZDF. "We let them have control of the ball a bit too much but then made it 2-0 at the right moment. It's always good to start with a win. It gives us self-confidence." Poland, making its first appearance in the Finals, was nearly punished for a rookie mistake in the fourth minute. Ballack set Klose racing through on goal with a perfect through ball. The striker chose to cross to Mario Gomez, who somehow failed to convert in front of an open goal. With 20 minutes gone Germany caught Poland again. Gomez set Klose bursting through and this time his decision to square the ball proved a good one as Podolski, playing as a left-midfielder, calmly converted. Germany keeper Jens Lehmann had nervously fumbled a cross from the right in the first minute but Jacek Krzynowek blasted the ball over. Lehmann continued to look jittery before finally getting down to make his first clean save from Wojciech Lobodzinski. Early in the second half Krzynowek raced clear on the right only to waste the chance with a poor cross before Ballack came close to adding a second with a rasping shot that was pushed away by keeper Artur Boruc. Ebi Smolarek had the ball in Germany's net in the 62nd minute but it was ruled out by a borderline offside decision. Kuwait beats Syria 4-2 Ahmed Ajab Al-Azemi scored a hat trick to lead Kuwait to a 4-2 win over Syria in the first round of World Cup qualifiers. The win kept Kuwait's hopes alive of advancing to the second qualifying round, although it remains at the bottom of Group 5 with four points. Iran heads the group with six points, followed by Syria and the United Arab Emirates who both have five. Al-Azemi gave his team the lead with a header in the first minute, before Syria's Firas Al-Khatib equalized with a free kick in the ninth. Al-Azemi put Kuwait back ahead with another header in the 19th, but Al-Khatib equalized again in first-half injury time. Walid Ali made it 3-2 for Kuwait in the 57th, with a shot that was deflected off Syria's Anas Alkhoja into the net, and Al-Azemi added his third in the 62nd to seal the win in a match played late at night to avoid the high temperatures in this small desert state in the Gulf. Kuwait sacked Croatian coach Radion Gacanin this week. – Reuters __
