Lewis Rutledge believes Croatia are no longer tournament outsiders at Euro 2008 after stunning Germany.
Lewis Rutledge sees Croatia beat Germany and says they are no longer outsiders for the tournament.
England fans may have bad memories of the dramatic defeat to Croatia last November but Slaven Bilic's side proved their credentials with an excellent performance against Germany.
For me, Germany never deserved the tag of tournament favourites. Sure, they were impressive in qualifying as they scored 13 against the assorted amateurs of San Marino, and they do have three or four world-class players.
However, their reputation is based largely on past achievements and intangible qualities such as character, attitude and efficiency, which is no substitute for true ability when you run into an organised, skilful side like Croatia.
The first 20 minutes were so cagey that I spent most of my time wondering why some of the Germany players seemed to be wearing oversized shorts that Rafael Nadal would have been proud of, but the match then exploded into action when Dario Srna escaped from Marcell Jansen to turn Danijel Pranjic's cross past Jens Lehmann.
Germany, who beat an ordinary Poland side 2-0 in their opening match, then discovered that breaking down the Croatian defence was a much tougher proposition as they struggled to chase the game.
Michael Ballack of Chelsea was again Germany's inspiration in midfield and he came close to equalising with a ferocious free-kick that drew an awkward save from Stipe Pletikosa.
But Germany lacked creativity and a cutting edge throughout and their defence always looked vulnerable as Croatia threatened on the counter-attack.
Impressive Modric
Tottenham-bound Luka Modric followed up his impressive display against Austria with another fine night. He pulled the strings in the middle of the park and showed his technical prowess with a series of runs and telling passes.
Another Premier League player on show was Portsmouth's Niko Kranjcar but he was again quiet and spurned two or three chances to give Croatia an unassailable lead.
Manchester City full-back Vedran Corluka set up one of Kranjcar's opportunities with a forceful foray down the right. He was not always so adventurous, but he was effective in his defensive duties.
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Lehmann was not so successful as he was wrong-footed by a deflected Ivan Rakitic cross and allowed the tireless Ivica Olic to make it 2-0 to Croatia.
Lukas Podolski pulled one back for Germany to keep up his strong start to the tournament and possibly catch the eye of a top English club, but Croatia deservedly held on for three points.
It may be premature to write off Germany as they will still expect to see off Austria and progress to the quarter-finals, but the late sending-off of Bastian Schweinsteiger showed their frustration as they know it will now be more difficult to go all the way.
Germany are likely to face Portugal in the last eight and Luiz Felipe Scolari's side have played well enough in their first two games to suggest that they would come out on top.
Croatia, cast as dark horses before Euro 2008 kicked off, could be the ones to follow as their path to the semi-finals appears more straightforward.
With a solid backline and the likes of Modric and Olic establishing themselves as stars of the tournament, Croatia will fancy their chances of lifting the trophy in Vienna at the end of the month.
