CROATIA

There were tears following the loss to France, but jubilation nonetheless a few days later with the playoff victory over the elegant Dutch. Fans soaked it all in, sat back and in a collective breath, wondered out loud' We finished third in the World Cup, can you believe it, third in the World Cup!

   Sport, it is often said , can lift the spirts of a flagging nation. Croatia needed an injection of optimism and its World Cup team delivered the goods. Political conditions, corruption scandals and economic cries are all par  for the course these days in the new post-war Croatia. But for a magical few weeks, Croatia watched entranced as its team slowly created history.

It all began rather unsatisfactorily. Sure, Croatia defeated Reggae Boys of Jamacia and the speedy Japanese, but it did not inspire confidence. The defense looked shaky , employing what seemed to be a basketball zone system of defence , guarding space instead of the man . Prosinecki looked slow, Stanic uncomfortable in a striker's role and Davor Suker was out of touch. A subsequent loss to Argentina pitted them against the skill and finesse of the Romanians in the second round and although victory was hoped, Croatia wasn't expected to knock off their more fancied opponents. What ensued in the following days will live in the memory of the Croatian fans for years to come. Brilliant midfielder, Aljoas Asanovic orchestrated a dominant victory over Romania and was again the lynchpin in Lyon in the quarter-final win over Germany.

   A lot has been said written about the dismissal of defender Christan Woerns for bringing down Davor Suker. The Germans claim they were dominating the first 25 mins of the match and if not for the sending off, would have won. The Germans are, if anything, sure of themselves. But the gendarme cap-wearing, crystal ball gazing, chain smoking coach Miroslav Blazevic had changed a few things since the group stages. Stanic was shifted to the right wingback position Stanic installed as sweeper and Asanovic and Boban given the reins of the wind open mid-field. Furthermore, Blazevic instructed his team to soak up the pressure and hit the Germans on the break. Remember Euro' 96 was the catch cry, when the inexperience Croatians were suckered into playing the Germans' physical brand of football and subsequently lost 2-1. This time round, things were different. Bierhoff was well held, Dario Simic did the job on Klinsmann and Jarni and Stanic were superb in the wingback positions. It is doubtful whether the aging Germans could have held out anyway. In any cause, the Croatians inflicted the worst defeat on a German World Cup team in 40 years and a nation went crazy.