Croatia

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• Manager:Slaven Bilic

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Bilic hails 'fabulous' Croatia

17 Jun 2008 - 07:58:43

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Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has described his squad as 'fabulous' after they ended their Group B campaign with a 100 per cent record following a 1-0 win over Poland.

Bilic made nine changes to his starting line-up but Croatia ensured they warmed up for a quarter-final meeting with Turkey with another win courtesy of Ivan Klasnic's second-half strike.

"We are not the first team to win three group matches at a European Championship, but there have not been many who have," said Bilic.

"My players were fabulous. They were not only courageous, but tactically perfect and played to a very high technical quality.

"I knew that these guys could deliver this type of match. This is a deserved victory.

"If (Poland keeper Artur) Boruc hadn't been so brilliant we could have been 2-0 up at half-time."

Meanwhile, Bilic hailed match-winner Klasnic after he underwent a kidney transplant last year and spent almost 12 months out of action.

"We are proud of him," he continued. "He is a very strong personality.

"When we first learnt the news about his kidney operation, it was him who raised our morale. It really is a fairytale."