Klasnić gives Croatia three outta three
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Croatia showed they are serious contender for the Euro 2008 title as their reserves earned a 1-0 win over Poland in their final Group B match, maintaining their 100% record in the tournament.
Striker Ivan Klasnić struck the only goal of the match for Croatia, to make it three wins in three matches and set up a quarter-final match with Turkey.
Croatia, already ensured of a quarter-final spot, playing most of their reserve players.
Their coach Slaven Bilić made a lot of changes with his starting line-up.
The Croats started with nine reserves to rest the majority of their first-choice players, but the second-string Croatian side were still too strong for Poland as they followed up their wins over Austria and Germany in the previous matches.
The only goal came in the 53rd minute when Danijel Pranjić crossed low from the left and Klasnić turned the ball in with a nifty left-footed shot past Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
It was an emotional moment for the player who has undergone two kidney transplants in the last 18 months.
The German-born striker suffered kidney failure in January 2007 and needed two kidney transplants to save his life last year as his body rejected the kidney donated by his mother.
A couple of months later, his father donated his own to replace the rejected kidney, successful one this time.
Nine months later, the Werder Bremen striker made an emotional comeback to football with his club in the Bundesliga.
Klasnić became the first kidney transplant patient to take part and score in a World Cup or European Championships.
For Klasnić it’s a dream ending of a horror story.
In contrast with the Polish side, it has been a disappointing tournament for them as they arrived in Euro 2008 with high hopes, having qualified for the tournament by finishing above Portugal in their group.
Poland coach Leo Beenhakker was clearly not satisfied with his team showing in the tournament.
It also leaves their veteran Dutch coach Beenhakker without a win at a World Cup or European Championships finals.
Poland: 1-Artur Boruc; 13-Marcin Wasilewski, 14-Michał Żewłakow, 5-Dariusz Dudka, 3-Jakub Wawrzyniak; 19-Rafał Murawski, 18-Mariusz Lewandowski (23-Adam Kokoszka 46); 8-Jacek Krzynówek, 17-Wojciech Łobodziński (7-Ebi Smolarek 55), 20-Roger Guerreiro; 11-Marek Saganowski (21-Tomasz Zahorski 69)
Croatia: 23-Vedran Runje; 2-Dario Šimić, 6-Hrvoje Vejić, 15-Dario Knežević (5-Vedran Ćorluka 27), 22-Danijel Pranjić; 16-Jerko Leko, 8-Ognjen Vukojević, 13-Nikola Pokrivač, 7-Ivan Rakitić; 17-Ivan Klasnić (9-Nikola Kalinić 74), 21-Mladen Petrić (19-Niko Kranjčar 74)
Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
Statistics:
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Striker Ivan Klasnić struck the only goal of the match for Croatia, to make it three wins in three matches and set up a quarter-final match with Turkey.
Croatia, already ensured of a quarter-final spot, playing most of their reserve players.
Their coach Slaven Bilić made a lot of changes with his starting line-up.
The Croats started with nine reserves to rest the majority of their first-choice players, but the second-string Croatian side were still too strong for Poland as they followed up their wins over Austria and Germany in the previous matches.
The only goal came in the 53rd minute when Danijel Pranjić crossed low from the left and Klasnić turned the ball in with a nifty left-footed shot past Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
It was an emotional moment for the player who has undergone two kidney transplants in the last 18 months.
The German-born striker suffered kidney failure in January 2007 and needed two kidney transplants to save his life last year as his body rejected the kidney donated by his mother.
A couple of months later, his father donated his own to replace the rejected kidney, successful one this time.
Nine months later, the Werder Bremen striker made an emotional comeback to football with his club in the Bundesliga.
Klasnić became the first kidney transplant patient to take part and score in a World Cup or European Championships.
For Klasnić it’s a dream ending of a horror story.
In contrast with the Polish side, it has been a disappointing tournament for them as they arrived in Euro 2008 with high hopes, having qualified for the tournament by finishing above Portugal in their group.
Poland coach Leo Beenhakker was clearly not satisfied with his team showing in the tournament.
It also leaves their veteran Dutch coach Beenhakker without a win at a World Cup or European Championships finals.
| Poland |  | 0 - 1 |  | Croatia |
| Ivan Klasnić 53 |
Poland: 1-Artur Boruc; 13-Marcin Wasilewski, 14-Michał Żewłakow, 5-Dariusz Dudka, 3-Jakub Wawrzyniak; 19-Rafał Murawski, 18-Mariusz Lewandowski (23-Adam Kokoszka 46); 8-Jacek Krzynówek, 17-Wojciech Łobodziński (7-Ebi Smolarek 55), 20-Roger Guerreiro; 11-Marek Saganowski (21-Tomasz Zahorski 69)
Croatia: 23-Vedran Runje; 2-Dario Šimić, 6-Hrvoje Vejić, 15-Dario Knežević (5-Vedran Ćorluka 27), 22-Danijel Pranjić; 16-Jerko Leko, 8-Ognjen Vukojević, 13-Nikola Pokrivač, 7-Ivan Rakitić; 17-Ivan Klasnić (9-Nikola Kalinić 74), 21-Mladen Petrić (19-Niko Kranjčar 74)
Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 3 | - | 6 |
| Shots off target : | 12 | - | 9 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 54 | - | 46 |
| Corner kicks : | 5 | - | 1 |
| Offsides : | 5 | - | 2 |
| Fouls : | 24 | - | 16 |
| Yellow cards : | 2 | - | 2 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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