Croatia through, Germany have to wait
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Croatia stunned Euro 2008 by produced the biggest surprise so far as they defeated Group B favourites Germany 2-1.
The Croats underlined their growing reputation as the most dangerous dark horses in the tournament.
The victory resurrected memories of their famous 3-0 win over the Germans in the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals, a match that featured their coach Slaven Bilić.
The result, in front of thousands of their ecstatic fans, made them through into the quarter-final.
Croatia took the lead in the 24th minute when Danijel Pranjić delivered a wonderful cross and Darijo Srna nipped in ahead of Marcell Jansen at the far post.
Ivica Olić scored a lucky second goal after a deflected cross from Ivan Rakitić bounced off the post right at Olić’s feet.
The Germans pulled a goal back in the 79th minute via Lukas Podolski's third goals in the tournament, but it was not enough for Germany.
To add misery for Germany, their substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger became the first player to be sent off in the tournament.
His frustration got the better of him and with time running out he reacted to a foul by Croatia substitute Jerko Leko and pushed him down to the ground.
The Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere reached for his red card and dismissed the German winger.
The Croats were able to stop the German midfielders supplying passes to their strikers Miroslav Klose and Mario Gómez.
They also unease Jansen in defence and were rewarded with the opening goal when Srna stabbed a cross in front of the Bayern Munich defender.
Croatia now has six points and topped group B while Germany will now need to beat co-hosts Austria in their final match to be sure for a quarter-final's place.
Croatia: 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 5-Vedran Ćorluka, 4-Robert Kovač, 3-Josip Šimunić, 22-Danijel Pranjić; 11-Darijo Srna (16-Jerko Leko 80), 10-Niko Kovač, 14-Luka Modrić, 19-Niko Kranjčar (15-Dario Knežević 85) 7-Ivan Rakitić; 18-Ivica Olić (21-Mladen Petrić 72)
Germany: 1-Jens Lehmann; 16-Philipp Lahm, 17-Per Mertesacker, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 2-Marcell Jansen (19-David Odonkor 46); 4-Clemens Fritz (22-Kevin Kurányi 82), 8-Torsten Frings, 13-Michael Ballack, 20-Lukas Podolski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Mario Gómez (7-Bastian Schweinsteiger 65)
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Statistics:
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The Croats underlined their growing reputation as the most dangerous dark horses in the tournament.
The victory resurrected memories of their famous 3-0 win over the Germans in the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals, a match that featured their coach Slaven Bilić.
The result, in front of thousands of their ecstatic fans, made them through into the quarter-final.
Croatia took the lead in the 24th minute when Danijel Pranjić delivered a wonderful cross and Darijo Srna nipped in ahead of Marcell Jansen at the far post.
Ivica Olić scored a lucky second goal after a deflected cross from Ivan Rakitić bounced off the post right at Olić’s feet.
The Germans pulled a goal back in the 79th minute via Lukas Podolski's third goals in the tournament, but it was not enough for Germany.
To add misery for Germany, their substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger became the first player to be sent off in the tournament.
His frustration got the better of him and with time running out he reacted to a foul by Croatia substitute Jerko Leko and pushed him down to the ground.
The Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere reached for his red card and dismissed the German winger.
The Croats were able to stop the German midfielders supplying passes to their strikers Miroslav Klose and Mario Gómez.
They also unease Jansen in defence and were rewarded with the opening goal when Srna stabbed a cross in front of the Bayern Munich defender.
Croatia now has six points and topped group B while Germany will now need to beat co-hosts Austria in their final match to be sure for a quarter-final's place.
| Croatia |  | 2 - 1 |  | Germany |
| Darijo Srna 24 | Lukas Podolski 79 | |||
| Ivica Olic 62 |
Croatia: 1-Stipe Pletikosa; 5-Vedran Ćorluka, 4-Robert Kovač, 3-Josip Šimunić, 22-Danijel Pranjić; 11-Darijo Srna (16-Jerko Leko 80), 10-Niko Kovač, 14-Luka Modrić, 19-Niko Kranjčar (15-Dario Knežević 85) 7-Ivan Rakitić; 18-Ivica Olić (21-Mladen Petrić 72)
Germany: 1-Jens Lehmann; 16-Philipp Lahm, 17-Per Mertesacker, 21-Christoph Metzelder, 2-Marcell Jansen (19-David Odonkor 46); 4-Clemens Fritz (22-Kevin Kurányi 82), 8-Torsten Frings, 13-Michael Ballack, 20-Lukas Podolski; 11-Miroslav Klose, 9-Mario Gómez (7-Bastian Schweinsteiger 65)
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 6 | - | 3 |
| Shots off target : | 5 | - | 4 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 44 | - | 56 |
| Corner kicks : | 7 | - | 7 |
| Offsides : | 1 | - | 3 |
| Fouls : | 13 | - | 13 |
| Yellow cards : | 4 | - | 2 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 1 |
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