An early penalty from Luka Modric gave Croatia an unconvincing 1-0 European Championships Group B opening win over a plucky Austria side at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Rene Aufhauser’s clumsy tackle felled Ivica Olic in the third minute, and new Tottenham midfielder Modric calmly slotted the ball past Juergen Mach to score the quickest penalty ever in European Championships history. Austria can take heart despite the defeat, as they outplayed an ordinary Croatia side - the game came in the light of 10,000 of their own fans signing a petition calling for their withdrawal from the tournament to avoid humiliation at the hands of their “superiors”.

Decide la gara un rigore segnato dal centrocampista Modric al 4′ del primo tempo. Gara poco spettacolare, nella ripresa Austria generosamente all’arrembaggio, ma l’unica grande occasione arriva nel recupero, con Kienast, che mette appena fuori di testa.