Balkan Barbie

Slaven Bilić, Croatia coach "It was a great match and I would like to extend special congratulation to my players, not only for battling hard but also for playing excellent football. There is no other way to beat Germany than to play well. They are a great team and are still one of the title favourites. You cannot allow them to control any part of the pitch and that's how we tried to play against them. For me, this victory is a bigger achievement than beating England at Wembley. I keep getting questions about similarities between this team and the team I played in in 1998. All I can say is that we are Croatians, we play for our fans but we are not the only team who play like this. It was the same in 1998 and it's the same now. We are always emotional, we cannot change that. Even if we wanted to, we don't want to. There are coaches who stay in the dugout and those like me who are more active. I like to take part by giving advice and by being as close as possible to the ...

Today's Financial times, US Edition, page 6, covered the upcoming EURO 2008 with the article, "Host countries make a play to shake off fusty image." This quote sums up the excitement and the historical meanings of the Championship games in Klagenfurt and the group that includes Austria, Croatia, Germany, and Poland: "Having Poland, Croatia and Germany all in one group is unfortunate from a security point of view. Sticking them in Klagenfurt is absolute nonsense, says a seasoned observer. "At least England is not competing, which is a relief." The EURO 2008 Championship opens this weekend. The schedule for the Croatian National Soccer Team (HNS) is: Saturday 8th, Austria vs. Croatia. On the 12th, Germany vs. Croatia, and on the 16th, Poland vs. Croatia. My prediction is Croatia will win its group with a crushing victory over Germany and possibly the Championship as well, under the leadership of coach Slaven Bilic. Today's Financial Times listed these win...