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Talk about the Croatian football team, and one of the first memories that any football fan will recollect is their campaign at the 1998 World Cup. Croatia, making their debut at the quadrennial extravaganza, finished third, with Davor Šuker winning the Golden Boot. This summer, Croatia will be making their third appearance at the European Championships. Slaven Bilić's boys will hope to improve upon their quarterfinal showing in 1996. In qualifying, they have shown that they mean business. It was their 3-2 win over England that ended the qualifying hopes of the Three Lions, and allowed Russia to enter the tournament. Croatia will be one team worth watching, and the Live Sport Network offers you the opportunity to do just that, at a price of £9.99. Plus, you will also get to see players like Niko Kranjčar, Luka Modrić, Vedran Ćorluka and Ivan Klasnić in action for their clubs, for one full year, without paying an extra penny. We currently have over 25,000 satisfied customers, a number that is increasing by the day. Sign up with us, and enjoy watching your favourite team in action.

Croatia topped Group E, securing 29 points out of a possible 36. They beat England twice, and their only defeat came at the hands of Macedonia- a 0-2 loss in Skopje. They scored 28 goals, four more than their nearest rivals, England. Not surprisingly, both the top scorers in the group were Croatians- Eduardo da Silva with 10, and Mladen Petric with 7. Unfortunately, we will not see Eduardo in Austria and Switzerland, with the Arsenal striker having been ruled out of the tournament after a horrific challenge from Birmingham City's Martin Taylor in a Premiership game in February 2008. Croatia have a history of qualifying impressively for major tournaments. They made it to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups without losing a game. Euro' 96 was their first European tournament, and they topped Group E in qualifying, ahead of fancied Italy.

Croatia's fixtures in Group B are as follows :-

8 June- vs Austria in Vienna ( 18.00)

12 June- vs Germany in Klagenfurt ( 18.00)

16 June- vs Poland in Klagenfurt ( 20.45)

All timings- Central European Summer Time ( UTC + 2)

How have they fared in previous editions of the tournament ?

At Euro' 96, Croatia were placed in a fairly tough group, with defending champions Denmark, Portugal and Turkey. Wins over the Turks and the Danes saw Croatia progress to the quarterfinals, where eventual champions Germany beat them 2-1 in Manchester.

They narrowly failed to qualify for Euro 2000, ending their qualification campaign with 15 points. Yugoslavia and the Republic of Ireland, the two teams that progressed from the group, had 17 and 16 respectively.

At Euro 2004, Croatia started off quite well, drawing 0-0 with Switzerland and 2-2 with France. They however lost 2-4 to England in their final group game, and were thus eliminated as France and England went through to the next round.

Current team

This Croatian team has talent- no doubt about it. They have brilliant youngsters like Kranjčar and Modrić, and can also count on the experience of the Kovač brothers and Dario Simic at the same time. Stipe Pletikosa has a safe pair of hands in goal, and in the absence of Eduardo, Ivica Olić, Mladen Petrić and Ivan Klasnić will be the ones to hunt for goals. Shakhtar's Darijo Srna and Monaco's Jerko Leko are extremely capable players on their day. Most of their players ply their trade in the top European leagues, especially the Bundesliga. That will come in handy when they face Germany in Klagenfurt. If we go by the current rankings, Croatia should beat Austria and Poland comfortably, and should give the Germans a run for their money. But we know that football is an unpredictable game, and Vatreni will keep that fact in mind.

Slaven Bilic will be one of the younger managers on view during the tournament. Can he guide Croatia to a podium finish in this tournament? He knows the feeling, having been part of the team that beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the third place playoff at France' 98.

Watch Croatia live at Euro 2008. Sign up with us today to ensure that you do not miss the joy of seeing your favourite players pass the ball around. It costs only £9.99, and we assure you of top notch service from our end.