Austria vs Croatia
in Vienna.
Sunday, 8th June at 18.00
It's not far for the Croatia fans to travel, so
there's plenty of support here in Vienna. The question is, will they be back here for the final on June 29th?
There was early drama in the 4th minute, when Emanuel Pogatetz used
the inside of his thigh to nudge Ivica Olic off the ball; in the penalty area.
New Tottenham signing, Luka Modric, made the penalty-kick look so
easy; as he struck the ball cleanly down the middle.
If Austria were not fancied as challengers at the start, the early
penalty made it even harder for the co-hosts to get into the game. With little over
quarter of an hour gone, the Austria Manager - Josef Hickersberger - was already looking
at his watch.
Once again, the cool weather conditions allowed the game to be played
at a fast tempo. Admittedly, Austria needed to get back into the game and Croatia wanted
to secure their hold on it.
Then Croatia seemed to think the game was too easy, and instead of
moving forward to crush the opposition, their compacency allowed Austria to show the world
that they might be quarter-final candidates.
Surely Slaven Bilic will want to change that mentality in the dressing
room.
Half-time - 0:1
Austria were the better the team in the second-half, and the home fans
must have expected at least a point.
The Austrians looked like they were going to score and worked hard.
But without any quality forwards, it's hard to convert half-chances into goals.
The Austrian fans can be proud, but null points was the end
result.
Final Score:
Austria 0 - Croatia 1
Goalscorers:
0:1 Luka Modric (4pen)
Teams
Austria:
21 Jurgen Macho; 3 Martin Stranzl, 4 Emanuel Pogatetz, 12 Ronald Gercaliu, 15 Sebastien
Prodl; 10 Andreas Ivanschitz, 6 Rene Aufhauser, 2 Joachim Standfest, 19 Jurgen Saumel; 9
Roland Linz, 20 Martin Harnik.
Croatia:
1 Stipe Pletikosa; 3 Josip Simunic, 4 Robert Kovac, 5 Vedran Corluka; 11 Darijo Srna, 19
Niko Kranjcar, 10 Nico Kovac, 22 Danijel Pranjic, 14 Luka Modric; 21 Mladen Petric, 18
Ivica Olic.
Referee:
Pieter Vink (Netherlands)
Substitutions:
61 Mins - 7 Ivica Vastic on for 19 Jurgen Saumel
61 Mins - 15 Dario Kneževic on for 19 Niko Kranjcar
69 Mins - 11 Ümit Korkmaz on for 12 Ronald Gercaliu
72 Mins - 20 Igor Budan on for 21 Mladen Petric
73 Mins - 18 Roman Kienast on for 9 Roland Linz
82 Mins - 8 Ognjen Vukojevic on for 18 Ivica Olic
 4 Yellow Cards:
4 Mins - Emanuel Pogatetz (Austria)
21 Mins - Jurgen Saumel (Austria)
51 Mins - Robert Kovac (Croatia)
68 Mins - Sebastien Prodl (Austria)
Germany vs Poland
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