0 — Croatia have never conceded a goal in their opening match at a Euro finals (1-0 v Turkey, 1996; 0-0 v Switzerland, 2004; 1-0 v Austria, 2008).

Slaven Bilic overshadowed the announcement of Croatia’s preliminary 27-man squad for Euro 2012 by confirming that he would be standing down after the tournament.

Slaven Bilic has announced he will step down as coach of Croatia’s national team after Euro 2012.

CROATIA all but guaranteed themselves a place at Euro 2012 after hammering hosts Turkey in the first leg of their play-off at the Ataturk Stadium last night.

Turkey 0 Croatia 3

Sunderland went down to a 3-1 defeat to German side Hoffenheim in their final pre-season friendly at the Rhein-Neckar Arena this afternoon.

Former Premier League referee Graham Poll believes Phil Dowd used a technicality in the rules to avoid sending off Nemanja Vidic during Manchester United’s Carling Cup victory over Aston Villa yesterday.

ENGLAND booked their ticket to the World Cup finals with a five-star performance at Wembley last night.

England 5 Croatia 1

Former Premier League referee Graham Poll has backed Rafael Benitez’s claim that Alex Ferguson receives lenient treatment from the Football Association.

St. Patrick's Athletic 0 Hertha Berlin 0 (Hertha win 2-0 on aggregate)

Hertha Berlin 2 St Patrick's Athletic 0

Croatia 1 England 4

Croatia 1 Turkey 1 (Turkey won 3-1 on penalties)

POLAND coach Leo Beenhakker believes his side have a chance of qualifying from Group B tonight (7.45pm) — but only if his opposite number Slaven Bilic fields his mother-in-law in the Croatia line-up.

KENNY MILLER gave Scotland hope for the future with a fierce strike to spare new manager George Burley from a debut defeat against Croatia at Hampden.

Scotland 1 Croatia 1

England 2 Croatia 3

Soccer referee Graham Poll has admitted the personal abuse he received this season from fans ridiculing his error at the World Cup played a part in his decision to retire.

Tottenham boss Martin Jol has backed Graham Poll following the referee’s controversial performance at White Hart Lane last week.

REFEREES’ chief Keith Hackett has criticised Chelsea players for questioning the integrity of referee Graham Poll and will now meet boss Jose Mourinho to “run through a number of issues”.

Referees’ chief Keith Hackett has criticised Chelsea players for questioning the integrity of Graham Poll and will now meet boss Jose Mourinho to “run through a number of issues“.

THE great sadness of the 2006 World Cup was the madness of Zinedine Zidane.

GRAHAM POLL last night revealed he considered retiring as a referee following his World Cup blunder.

World Cup referees chiefs will decide tomorrow which match officials are to be kept on for the quarter-finals - and Graham Poll is set to be among those told their services are no longer required.

The performance of Barclays Premiership referee Graham Poll will be analysed by FIFA before they decide what action to take after his yellow-card blunder in last night’s match between Australia and Croatia.

Australia coach Guus Hiddink described his team as ’lion-hearts’ after they twice came from a goal down to draw 2-2 with Croatia and qualify for the second round of the World Cup.

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi put in an inspired performance between the posts for Japan as the Asian champions kept their slim World Cup hopes alive with a 0-0 draw with Croatia in Nuremberg on Sunday.

Mexico left 10-man Croatia with it all to do to get out of Group G as Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s second-half penalty sealed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the France 98 semi-finalists in their opening World Cup match in Niigata.

Mexico 1 Croatia 0

Mexico left 10-man Croatia with it all to do to get out of Group G as Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s second-half penalty sealed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the France 98 semi-finalists in their opening World Cup match in Niigata.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco gave Mexico a dream start to their World Cup campaign this morning, scoring the game's winning goal from the penalty spot to deny Croatia.