Austria v Croatia - Euro 2008

Captaining his side for this game was Andreas Ivanschitz, an attacking midfielder who currently plays his club football for Panathinaikos. He's the David Beckham of Austrian football; somewhat of a footballing celebrity and also quite an Austrian hero of sorts.

Fielded in the game were the following eleven players for Austria:

Macho
Prodl, Stranzl, Pogatetz
Aufhauser, Saumel, Standfest, Gercaliu, Ivanschitz
Harnik, Linz

Twelve substitutes were named for Austria, the substitutes were as follows: Manninger, Ozcan, Katzer, Garics, Vastic, Patocka, Korkmaz, Hiden, Fuchs, Leitgeb, Hoffer, Kienast.

The three substitutes used in this game were Vastic, Korkmaz, and Kienast also. Vastic was the first on in the 61st minute, he came onto the field as a replacement for Saumel, next used was Korkmaz when he replaced Gercaliu in the 69th minute, and last but not least Kienast replaced Linz in the 73rd minute. Kienast was I feel the most crucial substitution for Austria; instantly he had a huge influence on the game and within seconds of coming onto the field he was causing problems for Croatia.

The captain selected in this game for Croatia was Nico Kovac. He's been the Croatian skipper for four years now and currently plays his club football in Austria with Red Bull Salzburg so is no stranger to the Austrian style of footballing game play.

Fielded in the game were the following eleven players for Croatia:

Pletikosa
Corluka, Robert Kovac, Simunic, Pranjic
Srna, Nico Kovac, Modric, Kranjcar
Olic, Petric

Twelve substitutes were named for Croatia, the substitutes were as follows: Galinovic, Runje, Simic, Vejic, Rakitic, Pokrivac, Leko, Knezevic, Kalinic, Klasnic, Vukojevic, Budan.

All three substitutes were eventually used for Croatia, not until the final third of the game however. Kranjcar was the first to leave the field when he was replaced by Knezevic in the 61st minute, Petric was the next to be taken off as a straight up swap for Budan in the 72nd minute, ten minutes later and the final substitution was made as Vukojevic came on in place of Olic. Olic could barely move when he left the field, he played a great game of football and literally ran until he could do so no more.

I had been expecting Croatia to come into this game thirsty for a win and indeed they did, after 4 minutes a penalty was earned and Modric comfortably slotted home the spot kick to give Croatia the early advantage. As the game continued so too did the mass possession of Croatia, for the first 25 minutes of the game Croatia looked comfortable in possession but without ever really troubling their Austrian opponents too much. Other than the penalty goal the best chance of the half for Austria fell to Petric; he found himself in plenty of space on the half volley but somehow managed to balloon the ball high over the Austrian goal.

After 25 minutes the direction of the game took a swift change in direction, Austria came into it and as the first half came to a close it was Austria that were looking the better team. The early comfort of Croatia disappeared, the players started getting sloppy and they just didn't seem to be able to keep the ball; they almost seemed afraid of keeping possession. Austria were thriving as many Croatian mistakes were made, Austria lacked the quality up front to turn their superiority into goals but still they were very much the happier side as the half time whistle was blown.

With the start of the second half I was expecting Croatia to come back out fighting, they'd ended the half poorly and I truly felt that a stern talking to from manager Slaven Bilic at half time would have been enough to change their fate but this was not to be so. As the two teams came out for the second half it was again Austria that were the better side; this was something that was in fact true until the final whistle but despite the greater quality of Austria a goal was never found. When Kienast was introduced to the game in the 73rd minute he was the definite danger man for Austria. Immediately his impact on the game could be felt, he was an uplifting energy for the Austria team and was just the boost required in order to push on for a goal. Although the goal never came for Austria Kienast did have a glancing header in the final minute that looked set to be heading goal bound, it ended up just wide and that was the final chance the Austrian team was given but still it was an important move and there is no doubt in my mind that Kienast will be starting in the next Austria game in the tournament.

It was clear for all to see that Eduardo was sorely missed in the Croatian team, even when Croatia did have possession and got themselves into goal scoring opportunities they never looked as though they were going to score again. A penalty goal was the only that they managed in the game; it was enough for them though and although they took the lead after a mere 4 minutes much of the rest of the game was spent loosely and very nervously hanging on to this lead. The Croatian players gave it their all, this was summed up most perfectly I feel when Olic left the field in the 82nd minute and could barely move. He played his heart out, gave it his all and this was something that was true of every single one of the Croatian players. When the final whistle went there was such relief in the eyes of the Croatian team, they had gained an important win but it had not been an easy one.

After a shaky start Pogatetz played well in defence for his team, he was penalised early on and carded for dissent having over complained when the Croatia penalty had been given. A few minutes later he was lucky to stay on the pitch as he put in a clumsy challenge, had he been sent off then this could well have been a very different game and Croatia may well have dominated; in truth though it was Austria that was the superior team for much of the 90 minutes. Croatia had a great first 25, after that they dropped off however and in the second half the energy levels of the squad looked to be extremely low.

The end score belied the events that had unfolded in the game, Austria was the superior side in the game and more than deserved to at least emerge with a point. A draw would not have flattered Austria; a win certainly flattered Croatia however but will be a great boost to their confidence for when they play Germany in their next game. Many had expected Austria to be hugely disappointing in this tournament, Austria was in fact expected to be the worst side at UEFA Euro 2008 and the team has been given 100-1 odds to win the tournament. Austria probably will not make it out of the group stage; in this game against Croatia the side certainly showed that they are no pushovers however. I feel that Croatia may find it a little tricky to progress from this group also, it may be the case that both Germany and Poland will progress from Group B into the last eight but only time shall tell.

England would have been better placed in this group I believe, I very much doubt that the England squad of 2008 would have let an inferior Austria side boss them about for 65 of the 90 minutes. England is not at Euro 2008 though; Croatia is and with this game the team is off to winning ways. All the best of luck to Croatia for the rest of the tournament; they're really going to need it, the Croatia side has no real forward force and this I feel will be their ultimate downfall. Austria showed great strength of character in this game, no one expected them to play at all well against Croatia but they did and almost they gained something out of the game. Almost there was an upset, not quite though and as the tournament progresses the results continue to go as expected.

Final Score: Austria 0 - 1 Croatia