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Croatia scrape to win over Austria
An early penalty from Luka Modric gave Croatia an unconvincing 1-0 European Championships Group B opening win over a plucky Austria side at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Austria
- Croatia
- - Right, next up it's one of the biggies - pre-tournament favourites Germany against dark horses and local rivals Poland. Think England versus Ireland in the 1970's and you've got some grip of the rivalry here...
90+3 And that is the final whistle! Croatia win, but they did not deserve it. They were surprisingly poor for much of the game while Austria, well, were actually quite good, in a bustling, long-ball kind of way.
90+3 Last chance for Austria who have a free-kick just to the left... everyone goes forward, Ivanschitz swings it over AND A BRILLIANT FLICKED HEADER FROM KIENAST FLIES AGONISINGLY WIDE! What a great piece of improvisation, especially with Knezevic pulling him all over the place.- 90' Stranzl puts a cross out for a corner but is convinced he should have had a free-kick. Srna swings it over, the ball is half-cleared, back with Srna again who wins another corner. This one sees Macho pushed to the ground but play-on and Austria hack it away!
- 86' Korkmaz with a shot from the edge of the box but spectacularly tipped away by Pletikosa! Austria really deserve at least a point here.
- 83' Loud shouts for handball with Knezevic accused of using his arm. Austria still pumping it high into the box.
- 81' Korkmaz plays it through to Vastic who's in but the shot is weak and easy for Pletikosa.
- 79' Another attack from Austria, the ball is played to the edge of the box and VASTIC FLIES IN WITH THE HEADER but kept out by Pletikosa despite the fumble! Austria pounding Croatia in waves.
- 78' Vastic to cross it in... but he tries a shot which Pletikosa can only punch away! Not cleared yet, and the ball is free in the box, Kienast flies in to try and get a foot on it, he plays it back but cleared and the rebound is hammered over! Austria really having a go now.
- 77' Corluka totally misses the ball but survives as the Austria man behind him didn't see it... Korkmaz with a beautiful piece of skill leaves two Croatia defenders flat on their backsides and wins a free-kick just outside the area on the left.
- 75' Kienast and Özcan Korkmaz both impress with some good touches and clever play - are the substitutions going to force an equaliser?
- 73' Austria continue to push men forward and a cross comes in from the left and Pletikosa is out of position but gets a touch on it just ahead of Vastic and it's hacked clear!
71' CROATIA SUB: Parma target man Budan is on.- 69' AUSTRIA SUB: Ozcan on for Gercaliu.
68' Proedl hauls down Olic cynically after he beat him with some great skill.- 62' Ivanschitz catches Srna, who makes a meal of it with three or four folls and draws a cynical response from the Austria midfielder.
- 61' AUSTRIA SUB: Sauemel comes off and veteran striker Ivica Vastic comes on, aged 103. CROATIA SUB: Vuckevic on for Krancjar, who's been quiet today.
- 59' Mistake from the Austrian defence allows Modric to rob the ball and fire in a low cross and Olic flies in but put behind for a corner! Suicidal from Gercaliu, who was caught in possession.
- 58' Good ball from Pogatetz wide to Harnik who hammers across a low centre but neither Ivanschitz or Linz move towards it and it flies out for a throw.
- 56' Almost a chance for the hosts as Harnik gets into space but the ball is played just behind him and Croatia clear.
- 55' Simunic heads a cross away and Srna completes the clearance. Austria still edging it in terms of possession.
- 54' The ball is with Macho who releases it quickly and Austria break, Ivanschitz on the left... they can't get a cross in and a foul on Corluka ends the move.
- 53' Good defending from Standfest to nod a centre from Corluka behind for a corner.
- 51' Kovac is booked for pulling back Linz on the halfway line. Slightly pointless foul.
- 48' Modric loses the ball and Ivanschitz has a pop from distance but well over.
- 48' Ivanschitz plays the ball into Standfest who drills a low ball into the box but there's only one red shirt to five blues and Croatia clear.
- 47' Krancjar is found in space in the middle and he strikes the ball from the edge of the D but it flies well over.
46' Second half underway!- 45+1 Half-time, Croatia lead 1-0 but Austria really got back into it in the second part of the period.
- 44' Austria much more in the game than Croatia at the moment, who are backs against the wall. Pletikosa claims Aufhauser's cross.
- 42' A deep cross is swung left to right and STANDFEST FLIES IN BUT HE HEADS IT JUST PAST THE FAR POST! Another good chance for Austria.
- 41' Ivanschitz swings the corner over which Pletikosa flies out to punch clear.
- 40' Austria surge forward and Simunic is caught out of position but the cross is put behind for a corner!
- 38' Free-kick to Austria on the right, good ball but Croatia clear and there's a counter on, Pletikosa launches a mammoth throw that Olic latches onto and they have men over and Srna is free but he tries a through ball for Modric instead and Ivanschitz is back to intercept and clear!
- 36' Petric gets the ball on the left and swings over a cross that is headed away. Austria don't look too clever at the back, loads of space on the flanks due to their back three and the wide positions are being exploited by the Croats, whose forwards are pulling out and whose full-backs are overlapping.
- 34' Srna on the right swings a deep cross over with Olic coming back from an offside position and the Austria defence stop and Petric is free on the left and he sends a spectacular volley inches over! He got under that when he should have tried to keep it low, and I don't think he realised he had time to take a touch.
- 33' Srna breaks up an Austria attack, although Ivanschitz gets it back and slides it through to Linz but too much weight sends it to Pletikosa.
- 31' Another free-kick to Austria on the left, and a comically mis-directed header by Aufhauser who dived in unmarked, spins well wide. Should have got that on target, probably should have scored.
- 29' Bit of silliness here after a tangle between Olic and Pogatetz, Olic hurls himself to the ground clutching his nose, oh dear he's rolling about like he's been shot in the face and Poggy could go here as he's already been booked... but the ref sees it for what it is - play-acting - and just gives the original free-kick. To be honest he could have been booked for the original foul, pulling and hacking, but Olic's reaction was disgraceful.
- 27' Two-footed challenge on Pogatetz from Robert Kovac, yellow card and a free-kick on the left... Swung over by Sauemel and PROEDL RISES WITH THE HEADER BUT JUST WIDE!! Great chance for Austria.
- 24' Pranjic comes forward on the left, hits the space left by the full-back but slips off-balance while crossing and it shanks out for a goal kick.
- 23' Aufhauser comes forward and tries a daisy-cutter which is easy for Pletikosa.
- 22' Macho flies out to punch a long ball clear and Petric is down after colliding with him.
- 20' Kovac on the run, dribbling through the middle and Saumel pulled-back down, free-kick 30 yards out and a card.
- 18' Proedl picks the ball up around 30 yards out and he has a left-foot shot which spins high and wide although not that far away from goal.
- 16' Srna with the corner, into the middle, Austria don't clear and Olic flies in but Standfest heads off the line!
- 15' Corner to the Croats as Proedl blocks Modric's cross...
- 13' Modric on the right with the free-kick... it's a dipping, near-post delivery and Olic dives in and it trickles just wide of the far post! Don't think he got a touch, but Pogatetz seemed to be all over him!
- 12' Free-kick to Croatia after a clumsy foul from Gercaliu, on the right...
- 9' Hilariously, the boos are louder when Austria are on the ball than the Croats, the away fans far more boisterous.
- 7' Austria with a rare spell of pressure as Aufhauser moves forward, he feeds Saumel who has a crack but straight down Pletikosa's throat.
4' Modric - Croatia's new star and set to join Tottenham in an £16 million deal after the Euros - steps up calmly to take it... and he strokes it straight down the middle for 1-0!- 3' Croatia bossing these opening stages, Olic now on the left breaking into the box and a clumsy tackle from Aufhauser takes him out and it's a penalty! Pogatetz booked for his protests.
- 2' Pranjcic on the left swings a deep cross over, out for a corner.
1' Match underway!- - Hello and welcome to eurosport.com's LIVE coverage of Austria v Croatia in their Euro 2008 Group B Opener, from 5pm.
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Team Stats
Austria Stats Croatia 54% Possession 45% 20 Shots 12 6 Shots on target 1 0 Saves 2 4 Corners 7 16 Fouls 17 0 Offsides 3 3 Yellow cards 1 0 Red cards 0 25 Tackles 25 265 Accurate passes 211 59 Bad passes 38 -
Player Stats
- G =
- Goals
- S =
- Shots
- SoT =
- Shot on Target
- F =
- Fouls
- FW =
- Fouls Won
- O =
- Offsides
- A =
- Assists
- AP =
- Accurate Passes
- BP =
- Bad Passes
- T =
- Tackles
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Austria G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 21 Jürgen Macho 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 3 Martin Stranzl 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 29 1 5 4 Emanuel Pogatetz 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 25 7 2 12 Ronald Gercaliu 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 20 8 3 2 Joachim Standfest 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 24 1 1 15 Sebastian Prödl 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 15 1 1 6 René Aufhauser 0 3 1 2 1 0 0 38 6 2 19 Jürgen Säumel 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 27 13 4 10 Andreas Ivanschitz 0 4 1 3 2 0 0 32 11 3 20 Martin Harnik 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 20 4 1 9 Roland Linz 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 7 1 0 16 Jürgen Patocka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Ivica Vastic 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 9 1 1 23 Ramazan Özcan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 György Garics 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Christian Fuchs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 Erwin Hoffer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Markus Katzer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Alexander Manninger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Roman Kienast 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 11 Ümit Korkmaz 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 11 4 1 17 Martin Hiden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Christoph Leitgeb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -
Croatia G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T 1 Stipe Pletikosa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 Robert Kovac 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 16 0 2 22 Danijel Pranjic 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 6 1 5 Vedran Corluka 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 19 0 1 3 Josip Simunic 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 10 3 2 10 Niko Kovac 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 24 3 1 14 Luka Modric 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 41 11 2 11 Darijo Srna 0 2 0 1 6 0 0 24 2 11 19 Niko Kranjcar 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 20 4 1 18 Ivica Olic 0 1 0 3 3 1 0 18 5 1 21 Mladen Petric 0 3 0 0 3 1 0 11 4 3 15 Dario Knezevic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 7 Ivan Rakitic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Vedran Runje 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Nikola Pokrivac 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Hrvoje Vejic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 Igor Budan 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 5 0 0 12 Mario Galinovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Dario Simic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Ivan Klasnic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Nikola Kalinić 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Jerko Leko 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Ognjen Vukojevic 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
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Summary
- 90+3 Last chance for Austria who have a free-kick just to the left... everyone goes forward, Ivanschitz swings it over AND A BRILLIANT FLICKED HEADER FROM KIENAST FLIES AGONISINGLY WIDE! What a great piece of improvisation, especially with Knezevic pulling him all over the place.
- 90' Stranzl puts a cross out for a corner but is convinced he should have had a free-kick. Srna swings it over, the ball is half-cleared, back with Srna again who wins another corner. This one sees Macho pushed to the ground but play-on and Austria hack it away!
- 86' Korkmaz with a shot from the edge of the box but spectacularly tipped away by Pletikosa! Austria really deserve at least a point here.
- 79' Another attack from Austria, the ball is played to the edge of the box and VASTIC FLIES IN WITH THE HEADER but kept out by Pletikosa despite the fumble! Austria pounding Croatia in waves.
- 78' Vastic to cross it in... but he tries a shot which Pletikosa can only punch away! Not cleared yet, and the ball is free in the box, Kienast flies in to try and get a foot on it, he plays it back but cleared and the rebound is hammered over! Austria really having a go now.
- 77' Corluka totally misses the ball but survives as the Austria man behind him didn't see it... Korkmaz with a beautiful piece of skill leaves two Croatia defenders flat on their backsides and wins a free-kick just outside the area on the left.
- 73' Austria continue to push men forward and a cross comes in from the left and Pletikosa is out of position but gets a touch on it just ahead of Vastic and it's hacked clear!
- 59' Mistake from the Austrian defence allows Modric to rob the ball and fire in a low cross and Olic flies in but put behind for a corner! Suicidal from Gercaliu, who was caught in possession.
- 42' A deep cross is swung left to right and STANDFEST FLIES IN BUT HE HEADS IT JUST PAST THE FAR POST! Another good chance for Austria.
- 40' Austria surge forward and Simunic is caught out of position but the cross is put behind for a corner!
- 38' Free-kick to Austria on the right, good ball but Croatia clear and there's a counter on, Pletikosa launches a mammoth throw that Olic latches onto and they have men over and Srna is free but he tries a through ball for Modric instead and Ivanschitz is back to intercept and clear!
- 34' Srna on the right swings a deep cross over with Olic coming back from an offside position and the Austria defence stop and Petric is free on the left and he sends a spectacular volley inches over! He got under that when he should have tried to keep it low, and I don't think he realised he had time to take a touch.
- 31' Another free-kick to Austria on the left, and a comically mis-directed header by Aufhauser who dived in unmarked, spins well wide. Should have got that on target, probably should have scored.
- 29' Bit of silliness here after a tangle between Olic and Pogatetz, Olic hurls himself to the ground clutching his nose, oh dear he's rolling about like he's been shot in the face and Poggy could go here as he's already been booked... but the ref sees it for what it is - play-acting - and just gives the original free-kick. To be honest he could have been booked for the original foul, pulling and hacking, but Olic's reaction was disgraceful.
- 27' Two-footed challenge on Pogatetz from Robert Kovac, yellow card and a free-kick on the left... Swung over by Sauemel and PROEDL RISES WITH THE HEADER BUT JUST WIDE!! Great chance for Austria.
- 16' Srna with the corner, into the middle, Austria don't clear and Olic flies in but Standfest heads off the line!
- 13' Modric on the right with the free-kick... it's a dipping, near-post delivery and Olic dives in and it trickles just wide of the far post! Don't think he got a touch, but Pogatetz seemed to be all over him!
- 4' Modric - Croatia's new star and set to join Tottenham in an £16 million deal after the Euros - steps up calmly to take it... and he strokes it straight down the middle for 1-0!
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Pieter Vink
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AustriaManager: Josef Hickersberger
Captain: Andreas Ivanschitz
Starting line-up
- J. Macho
- S. Prödl
- M. Stranzl
- E. Pogatetz
- J. Standfest
- R. Aufhauser
- J. Säumel
- R. Gercaliu
- A. Ivanschitz
- M. Harnik
- R. Linz
Subs
- A. Manninger
- I. Vastic
60′ - M. Hiden
- M. Katzer
- O. Ramazan
- R. Kienast 73′
- G. Garics
- C. Fuchs
- C. Leitgeb
- J. Patocka
- E. Hoffer
- U. Korkmaz 70′
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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CroatiaManager: Slaven Bilic
Captain: 10. Niko Kovac
Starting line-up
- S. Pletikosa
- V. Corluka
- R. Kovac
- J. Simunic
- D. Pranjic
- D. Srna
- N. Kovac
- L. Modric
- N. Kranjcar
- I. Olic
- M. Petric
Subs
- 17. I. Klasnic
- 2. D. Simic
- 22. I. Budan 72′
- 23. V. Runje
- 16. J. Leko
- 12. M. Galinovic
- 13. N. Pokrivac
- 7. I. Rakitic
- 6. H. Vejic
- 8. O. Vukojevic 83′
- 15. D. Knezevic 60′
- 9. N. Kalinic
Injured
None
Suspended
None
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Man of the match
Umit Korkmaz - Austria
Brilliant when he came off the bench in the second half and will surely start the Poland game.
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