Croatia underlined their growing reputation as Euro 2008’s most dangerous dark horses by stunning tournament favourites Germany 2-1 and earning a quarterfinal berth in a day of enthralling Group B action on Thursday.
The Germans next face co-hosts Austria, who rescued a 1-1 draw against Poland with a hotly disputed penalty deep into injury time to the shrill delight of their fans packed into Ernst Happel Stadium in the capital, Vienna.
Defeat by Austria on Monday — still a long shot — would mean a previously unthinkable first-stage exit for the Germans who are ranked 87 places above their next opponents.
Ivica Vastic’s penalty in the 93rd minute for Austria after Sebastian Proedl was hauled down in the Polish area also ensured that the fast-improving Croatians joined Portugal in the last eight with a group game still to contest.
Blind eye
Poland coach Leo Beenhakker told a news conference he thought referees had been turning a blind eye to such challenges and could not understand why his team had been punished.
”I’ve been in this business 43 years. I always accept the referee’s decision but this is something I really can’t understand in relation to the other situations,” he said.
”So many instructions [to referees] yet in all the matches until now nothing happens. It’s impossible to accept — but I’m working on it.”
For neutrals, though, the June 7 to 29 tournament was simply continuing its run of open, exciting and relatively clean encounters, although Germany substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger somewhat tarnished that record of good behaviour with the first red card on the sixth day of matches for a retaliatory shove.
Fortunately for organisers Uefa, the majority of fans in Klagenfurt and Vienna for two matches offering potential flashpoints did not follow the blonde midfielder’s petulant example and no serious trouble was reported by police.
Outwitted
Croatia, as candid Germany coach Joachim Loew was among the first to concede, deserved their upset win. They outbattled but more importantly, outwitted, the three-time winners.
”I don’t think the Croats are a better team than us but they were cleverer, had more spirit, had good tactics and closed us down in the midfield. We didn’t find a solution; I think they deserved to win,” he said in a perfect summing-up.
Croatia were good value for their 2-0 lead just past the hour courtesy of goals from Darijo Srna and Ivica Olic, and they even took Lukas Podolski’s 79th-minute strike in their stride, comfortably surviving the final few minutes.
Poland would have given much for similar composure as their later match reached boiling point with Austria desperately seeking to wipe out a goal from the apparently offside Brazil-born Roger Guerreiro after 30 minutes.
With three minutes of injury time left on British referee Howard Webb’s watch, an Austria free kick was pumped hopefully into the box and Mariusz Lewandowski manhandled Proedl to the floor. Webb immediately pointed to the penalty spot.
Vastic, at 38 the oldest man in the tournament, used all his experience to smash the ball home and send tens of thousands of fans in the stadium wild. He also broke a 24-year-old record to become the oldest scorer at a European Championship finals.
On Friday, Group C teams return to action with Italy getting the chance to put their campaign back on track, after defeat by the Dutch, against Romania in Zurich and The Netherlands taking on France in another mouth-watering fixture later in Berne. — Reuters