Petr Jiracek's neat 72nd-minute strike sealed a 1-0 win and sent Poland out to the delight of a small corner of the rain-soaked Wroclaw stadium, where the majority of red and white clad fans could only rue a host of missed chances in the first half.
Poland, so full of joy and youthful exuberance during this tournament both on and off the pitch, can also look back on wasted opportunities in the opening draw with Greece and coach Franciszek Smuda said he was stepping down.
"My adventure with the national team is over," Smuda said afterwards. "It is a bitter pill to swallow. We were too sure about the possibility of winning. We had some opportunities in the first half, we didn't take advantage of them and we lost the game."
Without a win in Euro finals, the victory they needed to progress at the Czechs' expense looked difficult on paper but in the first 20 minutes Poland should have had their neighbours buried.
"We are satisfied because we beat a team that played at home," said Bilek, whose side will face the Group B runners-up in the last eight and will hope that does not turn out to be Germany.
"We weren't good in the first 25 minutes and then we improved. We have been in difficult situations but have been able to play as a team."
Rosicky's replacement Daniel Kolar was completely anonymous during the match and the Czechs will now do everything they can to get Rosicky fit but the skilful and lively Jiracek, as well as Vaclav Pilar and Jaroslav Plasil, offer a decent threat.
The Polish fans did their team proud with a rousing rendition of "Polska" towards the end and the applause for the Czech victors as well as their fallen heroes was also a nice touch, contrasting with the violence before the co-hosts' 1-1 draw with Russia on Tuesday.
