Croatia are on the brink of booking a place in EURO 2008 quarter-finals after claiming a surprising 2-1 victory over Germany on Thursday. Darijo Srna put Croatia in front in the first half before Ivica Olic doubled the lead two minutes past the hour mark. Lukas Podolski narrowed the gap 11 minutes from time but tournament favorites Germany failed to secure a much-needed equalizer. They also finished with ten on the field when substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger received the first red card of the tournament in stoppage time for retaliation. The result put Croatia on top of Group B with six points, three ahead of Germany. Croatia will guarantee their quarter-final berth if Austria beat Poland later in the day. Stunning Opener Croatia stunned the Germans after 24 minutes when a slack marking by Marcell Jansen allowed Srna to notch the opener. The Shakhtar Donetsk man got ahead of Jansen to slide in Danijel Pranjic's inviting cross at the far post. Niko Kranjcar almost doubled Croatia's advantage five minutes later when he was picked out unmarked by Olic's superb flick from a left-wing cross.
Lehmann was hapless But his shot from inside the area flew high over. It was obvious that Germany defenders couldn't keep up with Croatia frontmen. Christoph Metzelder had a decent opportunity to draw Germany level five minutes before the break but his free header from Torsten Frings' corner missed the target. Two minutes later, Kranjcar squandered another golden chance to extend Croatia's lead. He chested a smart chip from the tireless Olic but his volley was blocked by Germany veteran keeper Jens Lehmann. Germany coach Joachim Loew introduced pacey winger David Odonkor and midfielder Schweinsteiger but his substitutions were to no avail. Lead Doubled The Mannschaft's hopes of claiming the equalizer were dented by Olic's goal in the 62nd minute. A deflected cross from the right eluded Lehmann and struck the post. The ball then fell to Olic, who tapped in into an empty net. Podolski pulled one back in the 79th minute when he took advantage of a poor defensive clearance to volley home from inside the area. But Germany failed to build on their goal to suffer a stunning defeat.
