saved by goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa , who then kept out another low effort by the veteran midfielder . Pletikosa also had to deny a driven shot from Umit Korkmaz , who also came off the bench , while another substitute in Roman Kienast flicked a header just wide from a free kick in the third minute of time added on . Croatia went into the tournament as one of the outside bets , having qualified top of their group ahead of Russia with a victory away to England which eliminated the British team . However , their chances of success were dealt a massive blow when top scorer Eduardo da Silva was ruled out of the tournament due to a broken leg . None of Croatia 's strikers managed to score in the warmup matches , and the Arsenal forward 's goal-poaching ability was sorely missed on Sunday . The winning goal came after Modric and Olic combined down the left wing from a throw-in , and Pogatetz clearly impeded the striker well away from the Austria goal . The Middlesbrough defender was booked for protesting the referee 's decision , but he could have no complaints with the ruling
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Croatia held off a furious late onslaught from Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria to win 1-0 in their opening Group B match in Vienna on Sunday . Emmanuel Pogagtetz , left , fouls Croatia striker Ivica Olic to concede the match-winning penalty . The Croatians took the lead in the fourth minute when midfielder Luka Modric coolly slotted home from the penalty spot after Emmanuel Pogatetz clumsily body-checked striker Ivica Olic in the area . Slaven Bilic 's team dominated the first half , and should have gone further ahead in the 35th minute but Olic 's strike partner Mladen Petric blazed over the bar with a left-foot volley after beating the offside trap to run on to Vedran Corluka 's cross . Austria 's main threat had come from set-pieces , but they were not able to capitalize on a string of corners . However , the home players kept battling in the second half and squandered a series of chances to level the score in the final 15 minutes . Martin Harnik fired over the bar on 78 as Croatia scrambled to clear the danger , then substitute Ivica Vastic had a powerful header well