Croatia Will Stay Focused, Says Delighted Bilic

We kept our promise to improve dramatically for this match and we are absolutely delighted with the win, Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said.

Croatia will not get complacent after Thursday's stunning 2-1 Group B win over Euro 2008 favourites Germany, coach Slaven Bilic said.

"We try to stay on the ground after performances like this and we also don't start doubting our abilities if we are below par sometimes," Bilic told a news conference.

"This is a very emotional group of players but we didn't succumb to criticism after the opening 1-0 win over co-hosts Austria," he said.

Bilic and the players were scorned by Croatian media after they scraped past Austria, especially playmaker Luka Modric who was declared man of the match against the Germans.

"We kept our promise to improve dramatically for this match and we are absolutely delighted with the win," he said.

"We stuck to the game plan to put as much pressure on Germany's midfielders and defenders as we could and it paid handsome dividends."

Bilic, who played in Croatia's 3-0 rout of Germany in the 1998 World Cup quarter-finals in France, said Modric and several others players were at the same level as his generation, seen by many as the most talented in Croatia's history.

"The two generations have a lot in common, notably the fact that they both played their hearts out for Croatia and our fantastic fans.

"Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Ivan Rakitic are just as gifted as the likes of Davor Suker, Robert Prosinecki and Zvonimir Boban who led the 1998 outfit to success."

Croatia play Poland in their final group match in Klagenfurt on Monday, when Germany face Austria in Vienna.

Read about the match in the article:

Croatia Crushes Germany 2-1 In Klagenfurt