Croatia were forced to hang on against tournament co-hosts Austria to begin their Euro 2008 campaign with a win. They were gifted what proved to be a fourth-minute winner when Luca Modric drilled home a penalty after Rene Aufhauser clumsily felled Ivica Olic.
Austria's Joachim Standfest headed their best chance wide as they finished the first half in better form. And after the break Austria's Umit Korkmaz had a stinging shot well saved and Roman Kienast headed narrowly wide.
An equaliser would not have flattered a plucky Austria side who had to dig deep to recover from a terrible opening spell. Austria went into the game knowing that if they were to rip up the form book and keep the pre-match party going, it was imperative that they got off to a good start.
But instead they quickly reinforced suggestions they would be merely making up the numbers almost as soon as they touched the ball - or not, in the case of Aufhauser. He bundled Olic over and up stepped Modric to take the spot-kick and his cool finish must have impressed any watching Tottenham fans, who will be seeing him at their club next season.
Quickly it became evident that Austria's players were unlikely to follow Modric to the Premier League, such was the lack of quality in the side ranked 92nd in the world. And the one Austrian who does actually ply his trade in England, Middlesbrough's Emanuel Pogatetz, looked nothing like a maestro but every bit his 'Mad Dog' nickname.
After being booked for his protest at the penalty he should have been sent off for virtually assaulting Olic on the half-hour mark. But despite their obvious superiority Croatia created only one other decent chance, when Mladen Petric blazed over from inside the box, and they began to be complacent towards the end of the half.
And had Austria's giant centre-back Sebastian Prodl or Joachim Standfest been more accurate with free headers they might have snatched an equaliser. If set-pieces had been Austria's only likely source of success in the first half, they came out after the break looking determined to show they could fashion something in open play.
And the hosts did enjoy more possession but Croatia easily broke up their attacks, which were pedestrian at best. For 20 minutes, the game was almost at a standstill and then Austria found some impetus and started to dictate the tempo.
Austria, though, are not massive outsiders for nothing and although they forced the pace they failed to really threaten. They almost made the breakthrough when a swerving shot from Korkmaz was parried by keeper Stipe Pletikosa and at the death, Kienast flicked a header narrowly wide.
But they ultimately paid for having a lack of real quality in the final third. Yet the same could be said of Croatia, who look far from potential winners of the tournament and appear to have no-one to replace injured striker Eduardo da Silva.
Bilic sees positives in nervy win
Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said some of his players let the occasion get to them as they toiled to a 1-0 win over Austria in their Euro 2008 opener. Bilic's side were forced to hang on for long spells after Luka Modric's fourth-minute penalty had given them the lead. Austria piled on the pressure but just failed to snatch an equaliser. "Some players were overwhelmed by playing at a great tournament but we started off with the best possible way - with a win," said Bilic. "In the first 35 minutes we played excellently, of course the early lead contributed to that. "They exerted more pressure in the second half and I'm sure that is not to do with a lack of strength from our players. But we confined ourselves to our penalty area too early."The last 15 minutes or so when they play all or nothing, you can do that - but we started in the 60th minute or so."
Croatia have a record of starting tournaments slowly, so Bilic was delighted with victory in the Group B opener. "I didn't think the players were happy when they got back in the dressing room," he added. "I turned on the CD player and said they should sing because they won."
Hickersberger hails Austria grit
Austria coach Josef Hickersberger said his players can take heart from the way they responded to a nightmare start in their 1-0 loss to Croatia at Euro 2008. Luka Modric's fourth-minute penalty was the fastest in the history of the tournament, but Austria fought back to dominate the second half.
"This was the worst possible start you can have in an opening match of a major tournament," said Hickersberger. "We were nervous early on but we played well in the rest of the match."
Hickersberger added: "We even dominated in the second half of the match.
"We had good opportunities but unfortunately we weren't able to score a goal so we are empty handed. In our remaining games we need four points to go through. We know that the Croats eliminated England in qualifying so we couldn't start the way we finished the game."
Austria captain Andreas Ivanschitz said the result did not really reflect how well his side had played at the Ernst Happel Stadion. "I am very proud of our performance," said Ivanschitz. "We were completely down after the fourth minute, but it was great to see how the team got back up again and played really well in the second half."
Austria's next game is against Poland, who also lost their opening match of the tournament against Germany on Sunday. "We are already in the final, but not the final we hoped for," said striker Roland Linz. "There are no excuses, we must win against Poland. The supporters were great. We hope to give them something back on Thursday."
TRIVIA
Luka Modric's winning penalty for Croatia was the fastest ever spot kick in the history of this tournament. The previous fastest penalty was awarded to Italy in their match against Germany in 1996, when Gianfranco Zola failed to convert in the ninth minute of the match.
Following Switzerland's defeat on Saturday, Austria are now the sixth host nation to lose their opening match at a European Championship tournament.
The result marked Croatia's first European Championship victory, since a 3-0 win over Denmark on 16 June 1996, ending a five match winless streak.
At the age of 22 years and 273 days, Modric became the youngest Croatian goalscorer ever at this tournament. He broke Goran Vlaovic' record who was 23 years and 309 days old when he scored against Turkey in 1996.
Austria: Macho, Prodl, Stranzl, Pogatetz, Aufhauser, Saumel (Vastic 61), Standfest, Gercaliu (Korkmaz 69), Ivanschitz, Harnik, Linz (Kienast 73).
Subs Not Used: Manninger, Ozcan, Katzer, Garics, Patocka, Hiden, Fuchs, Leitgeb, Hoffer.
Booked: Pogatetz, Saumel, Prodl.
Croatia: Pletikosa, Corluka, Robert Kovac, Simunic, Pranjic, Srna, Nico Kovac, Modric, Kranjcar (Knezevic 61), Olic (Vukojevic 82), Petric (Budan 72).
Subs Not Used: Galinovic, Runje, Simic, Vejic, Rakitic, Pokrivac, Leko, Kalinic, Klasnic.
Booked: Robert Kovac.
Goals: Modric 4 pen.
Ref: Pieter Vink (Holland).