Euro 2004 : England v Croatia

	England v Croatia: Ozren Podnar previews the crucial Group B game in Lisbon 21st June 19:45pm Luz Stadium, Lisbon

CROATIA BRACES ITSELF FOR THE ENGLAND GAME

THE ROMANIAN INSPIRATION FOR BARIC'S BOYS

BY OZREN PODNAR Croatian Football Correspondent

Thursday's 2-2 draw against the French has not made things any easier for Croatia, which still has to win on Monday to qualify, just as if it had lost by, say, 5-0.

But, Croatia's fighting performance against the reigning European champions has done much to lift the players. They are now more convinced of their abilities to beat England in Lisbon. They know that, if they came close to beating arguably the best team in the tournament, they are good enough to upset the English.

The Croatian media were ruthless after their team's lacklustre goalless performance against the Swiss. The same players described as "brilliant" one week earlier following their 2-1 win away over Denmark, were now dismissed as "pathetic and useless". Even the controversial ex-national team coach Miroslav Blazevic turned up at the press conference in Leiria lashing out at the current coach Otto Baric.

"I have come here to help you achieve a miracle, because that is what it will take us to qualify. But you, Mr. Baric, don't even realize the mistakes you have made." said Blazevic, now a reporter for a leading Croatian daily.

Four days later the picture changed yet again; the draw with the French made everybody proud and the fans in the homeland celebrated as if qualification for the second round were a fact, rather than a remote hope. Blazevic, the charismatic figure who led the checkered shirts to the quarterfinals at Euro 96 and to third spot two years later at the World Cup in France, apologized to Baric and wrote a poem (!) in his honour.

"The game against the French has made us believe we can compete with anyone, even England." said a confident 70-year old Baric, who after the Switzerland game looked utterly dejected.

"We have a good atmosphere in the team and I am confident we are going to play a few more of such good games." The coach was even forgiving with Igor Tudor, who made both the scorer's and the assists charts in his first appearance in Portugal (although his goal was an own goal, and the assist supplied to David Trezeguet rather than one of his own forwards).

"I have seen five or six thousand games and I know that every player will commit such errors at one time or another. I am sure Tudor will not repeat such mistakes in the future."

The FA president Vlatko Markovic validated Baric's words: "There is not a single man in our squad who does not believe we can overcome England."

CROATIAN-SCOTTISH ALIANCE

Baric's players have an enormous motive which is not limited to the issue of who will qualify for the quarter finals.

The team whey will face on Monday is full of players they read about, or see in the news, everytime they open the sports pages or turn on the TV. On the other hand, the Croats generally believe that England team know little and care less about their next rivals, few of whom bask in the glory of everyday media coverage like Beckham, Owen or Rooney. Their perception of the English players as "arrogantly ignorant" may well be wrong, but it certainly moulds the Croats' frame of mind as the decisive clash gets closer.

Then there is the patriotic issue. This relatively new nation born in a bloody war of independence from the Serb-dominated Yugoslavia still feels ih has to assert itself internationally, for which sporting events like Euro 2004provide an excellent opportunity. One of Croatia's most experienced internationals, Niko Kovac, says that the team "owes it to the Croatian people to achieve the feat of beating the English. Every Croatian symbol is sacred to me, I shiver when I hear the anthem, I shed a tear when I see our fans."

The patriotic stuff goes further: Britain, England in particular, got plenty of bad press during the Croatian independence war when John Major's administration was seen as clearly supporting the Serb side against the German-backed Croatia.

Several years ago the press would be steaming with the reminders of Britain's (for the Croats: mostly England's) reluctance to recognize Croatian independence in late 1991 and some media would even bring up World War II topics emphasizing the British army's role in the extradition of 150,000 Croatian soldiers and civilians to the victorious Yugoslav communist army in 1945, later to be executed en masse. Luckily, such rethoric is now dismissed as obsolete and out of place. Instead, the Croats are relishing the support they are now receiving from - the Scots!

On the eve of Euro 2004 the Scottish Sun appealed to the Tartan Army to give wholehearted support to Croatia, not least because their Group B rivals are the English. Sporting slogans such as "Here we Cro!" and "We've all gone Croazy!" on the front page, the daily conducted a poll among the Scottish population with a question whom they would support in the Croatia-England game. Unsurprisingly, 68% replied "Croatia". Or, as the newspaper prefers to call it, "the Balkan Bravehearts"!

"It is not that we hate the English. Simply, they are our biggest soccer rivals." - explained Graeme Donohoe, the Scottish Sun's reporter sent to Zagreb to report on how the local fans fare during Euro 2004.

The fans are taking advantage of nice weather to come out in their thousands and cheer for their team in the streets and squares. Most establishments have big screen television sets or video-walls installed to enable the guests to follow the games without the fear of the beer supply ever running out.

Weather permitting, tens of thousands of fans (apart from the estimated 10,000 Croats in Lisbon) will view Monday's crucial game in the open and if the result turns out to be favourable, the feast is likely to surpass the one that followed the Croat quarterfinal win over Germany in the 1998 World Cup.

If their team is eliminated, there will be a mass bout of depression: the Croatian soccer fan knows only the extremes of emotion.

THE GAME THE CROATS LIKE TO REMEMBER

In their quest for a place in the quarterfinals at the Euro 2004 Croatia is drawing its inspiration from - Romania!

The Balkan pals found themselves in a very similar position four years ago when they had to beat England in their last game of the group stage in order to qualify. Kevin Keegan's squad were hot favourites to go through to the knockout stage of Euro 2000, needing only a point against Romania. Still, the yellow-and-reds, even without their leader Gheorghe Hagi, created an upset. On June 20th in Charleroi the Romanians did what the Croats hope to emulate in Lisbon - beat England and send their rivals on an early trip home.

As the Croatian daily Sportske novosti pedantly reminds, Romania was 1-2 down at the interval on that historic night, but Munteanu after 48 minutes and Ganea from the spot three minutes from time sent the waves of joy throughout the Transylvanian forests and the Danubian valleys. Here's how they lined up.

ROMANIA 3 2 ENGLAND

ROMANIA: Stelea; Contra, Gh. Popescu (32. Belodedici), Chivu, Filipescu; Petrescu, Galca (68. Rosu), Munteanu, Mutu; V. Moldovan, A. Ilie (74. Ganea)

ENGLAND: Martyn, G. Neville, Keown, Campbell, P. Neville; Beckham, Ince, Scholes (79. Southgate), Wise (75. Barmby); Shearer, Owen (65. Heskey)

Scorers: 1-0 Chivu (22), 1-1 Shearer (42, pen), 1-2 Owen (45), 2-2 Munteanu (48), 3-2 Ganea (88, pen)

Croatian Football

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