Croatia turned Germany, and Group B at the European Championship, upside down yesterday, taking the game to the tournament favorites and coming away with a stunning 2-1 win.
Darijo Srna and Ivica Olic scored a goal each to put Croatia in first place in the group and send the three-time champion Germans into their final match of the first round needing to get a win to ensure progression.
“We played a phenomenal game,” Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said. “We closed the lanes. We attacked them early. We shut them down where they are most dangerous.
“We were dangerous. We managed to control the whole game. They had some chances because Germany is Germany.”
Croatia took the lead in the 24th minute after Danijel Pranjic swapped passes with Ivan Rakitic and then sent a cross over for Srna, who slid alongside Germany defender Marcell Jansen and scored past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
Olic made it 2-0 in the 63rd after a shot from Rakitic on the right flank was deflected by Germany forward Lukas Podolski and bounced off the post right at Olic’s feet. Podolski scored his third goal of the tournament in the 79th by sending a volley after a headed down ball from captain Michael Ballack hit a defender.
Germany were reduced to 10 men in injury time when Bastian Schweinsteiger was given a red card for pushing Croatia substitute Jerko Leko to the ground.
Croatia now have six points and could advance early, depending on the outcome of the later game between Austria and Poland. Germany still has three points.
Germany beat Poland 2-0 in their opener, and Croatia defeated Austria 1-0 and came under fire from home for a poor game.
“We played a very good game,” said Luka Modric, who is heading to Tottenham next season. “I think we can do something good at this tournament.”
Six minutes after Croatia’s first goal, midfielder Niko Krancjar could have made it 2-0 but he blasted his shot over the crossbar from inside the box.
Ballack hit a long-range free kick to force a save from goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa in the 33rd – Germany’s first shot at the goal – and central defender Christoph Metzelder headed over the net after a German corner from Torsten Frings.
Lehmann made a 42nd-minute save from Krancjar’s left-footed volley on a cross from Modric. But Lehmann fumbled a long-range effort by Modric early in the second half that nearly trickled inside the post.
“We showed our real face today,” Modric said. “We showed that we can play well when we face a big team. We were very motivated.”
The Germans never found their vaunted pace and looked out of ideas against a crafty Croatian team that often changed the pace of the game.
“Of course we are disappointed,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said. “We were not the same team that played against Poland. We never managed to step up the pace, we did not have the precision in our passes.
“They pulled back after the first goal and we did not really manage them to put them under pressure. We played too many high balls and for them they were easy to deal with. I think it’s a deserved loss,” Loew added.
Croatia also beat Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals in France in 1998, winning 3-0. Two years earlier, Germany had won 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the European Championship and went on to win its third title.
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Germany: Jens Lehmann; Philipp Lahm, Christoph Metzelder, Per Mertesacker, Marcell Jansen (David Odonkor, 45), Clemens Fritz (Kevin Kuranyi, 82), Michael Ballack, Torsten Frings, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez (Bastian Schweinsteiger, 65), Miroslav Klose.
Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa, Danijel Pranjic, Josip Simunic, Robert Kovac, Vedran Corluka, Niko Kovac, Darijo Srna (Jerko Leko, 80), Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Niko Kranjcar (Dario Knezevic, 85), Ivica Olic (Mladen Petric, 72).
Scorers: Srna (C) 24 min, Olic (C) 63 min, Podolski (G) 79 min.
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)