Croatia play-off bound despite win

Croatia must wait to discover whether they will qualify for UEFA EURO 2012 as they will have to contest a play-off after finishing second in Group F despite this evening's victory over Latvia. Knowing only a victory would give them a chance of overhauling pool leaders Greece, Slaven Bilic's men looked set to steal top spot when Greece fell behind in Georgia and they eventually got on top of a stubborn Latvia side. But news of Giorgos Fotakis' late leveller and Angelos Charisteas' subsequent winner for the 2004 champions in Tbilisi hushed the Stadion Kantrida, and the best they could hope for was to finish as the best group runner-up. However, Sweden's win against Holland ensured they took the best runners-up berth, thus forcing Croatia into the play-offs. That had looked an unlikely scenario for a ten-minute spell midway through the second half when, after Georgia had taken the lead, Eduardo, the country's second all-time leading scorer, and Mario Mandzukic put Croatia in control. But Greece's comeback halted the celebrations that had started and quickly switched attentions back to the play-offs. Not to know how things were going to pan out and eager to stamp their mark on proceedings as soon as possible, Croatia fashioned the first chance of the match with less than 90 seconds on the clock when Eduardo's effort was tipped around the post by Andris Vanins. The early momentum continued and Mario Mandzukic hit wide from just inside the six-yard box, Tottenham's Niko Kranjcar worked Vanins again and club team-mate Luka Modric fizzed a long-range strike just over. Darijo Srna then forced Vanins into a save with a well-taken free-kick as the pressure almost reached breaking point for the visitors. Eduardo twice more had the chance to release some of the tension building inside the stadium, but failed on both occasions, first missing from the edge of the box and then nodding Srna's cross over. Vedran Corluka was forced out of the action with 30 minutes gone, and his withdrawal seemed to stem Croatia's flow. Latvia took advantage of the home side's reduced impetus, and Artjoms Rudnevs registered their first effort with a left-footed effort than skipped just wide three minutes before the break. Aleksejs Visnjakovs took aim after the interval as Latvia enjoyed a rare spell of dominance, although Modric threatened to end that when he took aim from 20 yards, only to find Vanins equal to his effort. Kranjcar failed to find the target as Croatia regained control and Eduardo missed another gilt-edged chance from six yards, while Rudnevs forced Stipe Pletikosa to produce a fine block at the other end. Finally, though, the deadlock was broken as Eduardo found his range. Twenty-six minutes were remaining when Ivan Strinic whipped in a cross and the Shakhtar Donetsk forward stooped to get his head to the ball and put his side in front. Having defended so resolutely for so long, Latvia's resolve was clearly broken and they found themselves a further goal behind six minutes later. Srna, an impressive performer throughout, was the creator, sending in a ball from which Mandzukic headed home his fourth international goal. Josip Simunic had a chance to add a third but it mattered little by then as the reality of the situation dawned on the Croatian players.