What a difference a few days can make. Croatia had entered Euro 2008 as many people’s dark horses and even as some people’s favourites thanks to a commanding qualifying campaign and the presence of players such as Kranjcar and Corluka who have begun to hit the big time in England. After watching them scrape an unconvincing win against tournament outsiders Austria, the waves of optimism had vanished, only to be replaced by uncertainty and a lack of faith in maverick coach Slaven Bilic. That was then, this is now. Croatia have beaten Germany 2-1, a Germany fancied by many to be the complete package and likely tournament winners. Of course, the Germans can still win, but who will think they can do it now after a brave Croatian side exposed more holes in them than in a block of Swiss Emmenthal on Bern’s main marktplatz. The Germans were not great but for the most part this was because the Croats simply didn’t give them a chance. In their blue away-shirts, Croatia were rampant and dominated the game, frustrating German superstars like Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger, the latter of whom couldn’t deal with the pressure, lost his cool and was red carded for aggressively shoving Jerko Leko to the floor. With time dying out this sending off was a welcome development for Croatia since Germany had been relying upon using the substitute Schweinsteiger who seemed fresher than all his compatriots and was the river through which all German moves seemed to flow.

Nobody can now underestimate the Croatian team. They do indeed have their poor performances, the dire victory against no-hopers Austria and the goalless bore against Japan in the previous World Cup immediately springing to mind, but when they play well they play very well indeed. This was classic Croatia, the same Croatia that put England twice to shame and beat the Germans 3-0 back at France ‘98. Croatia have a habit of only playing matches for 60 minutes rather than the full 90, which for some players such as Ivica Olic is because they have run themselves into the ground through sheer hard work, while for others like Robert Kovac seems to be a more worrying question of concentration. Last night though the full team worked like a well oiled machine for every second of the game. Half way through the first-half the creative Darijo Srna poached a goal as the German defense opened up. Croatia had all of the good chances in the first-half though the fans were still wishing for the referee to blow his whistle so as not to concede a sloppy goal in the final moments of the half. The Germans did wake up a little once the second-half was underway but it was the Croats who took the initiative with Ivica Olic getting a second goal for the team. Olic’s performance was talismanic, giving every ounce of energy for the team, fighting for every ball and leading by example. Ballack shot just over for the Germans and they had a disallowed goal after Stipe Pletikosa was molested. With 79 minutes on the clock Lukas Podolski pulled a goal back, leaving all Croatian fans with a finale so nail biting that one would be forgiven if they were left without any fingers on either hand. Even in the dying minutes though it was Croatia who seemed more engaged in the game, and Modric almost sprinted away to score a third before the referee blew his whistle and quite inexplicably gave him a yellow card.

For the traditional rivals England and Germany it seems that a new common enemy has been found. It always seems to be a lottery as to which Croatia will emerge from the tunnel at the start of each game, but if it is the industrious, creative and brave Croatia that defeated Germany then they need fear nobody. The team must be careful to avoid suspensions through two yellow cards to the same player since without the likes of Modric and Srna they could be toothless. We all had our faith shaken a little after the Austria game but now we can get back to dreaming. Could it be possible for Croatia to go all the way?

24 Sata match report
BBC match report
UEFA Euro 2008 article