Croatia showed it is well-equipped to make a serious bid for the Euro 2008 title when its reserves swept aside Poland 1-0 in their final Group B game on Monday. Already assured of a quarterfinal against Turkey, it followed up wins over Austria and Germany with an efficient display against a poor Poland side and should have won more convincingly. The only goal came eight minutes into the second half from Ivan Klasnic, a striker who has undergone two kidney transplants in the last 18 months. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said: “We are proud to keep giving our fans so much to cheer about and we should have won by a bigger margin. “There were many players out there in my team eager to make an impact.” Klasnic said: “We played a good game of football today and I am delighted to have scored the winning goal, but the most important thing is that we won the match.” Poland coach Leo Beenhakker was clearly not satisfied with his side's showing at Euro 2008, having qualified for the tournament by finishing above Portugal in their group. “Everyone is very disappointed as we had ambition to do better, of course, and that was a realistic thing because we showed in most of the qualifying matches that we can do much better,” he said. “But during this tournament we were not good enough. We have to see what everybody knows, that several important players were not in the best shape, not in top form. “The players who gave us something extra in qualifying, it wasn't happening here.” Croatia will certainly fancy its chances against Turkey and could then face Germany - which it beat last week and in the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup - or Portugal in the semis. Poland went into the game needing to win by at least two goals to have any chance and with Croatia resting nine first-choice players it could not have had a better situation. However, it looked toothless up front and lacking in midfield creativity, shortcomings that contributed to its single goal return from three games. After 10 minutes Croatia keeper Vedran Runje had to act smartly to punch away a cross just before it reached the head of Jacek Krzynowek but that was the only time he was seriously called into action in the first half. His opposite number Artur Boruc got busier and busier and made two good saves with his feet to deny the ever-dangerous Klasnic. Defender Hrvoje Vejic also flashed a header just wide while Danijel Pranjic should have done better when he shot across goal when clean through. The finishing was spot-on eight minutes into the second half, though, when Pranjic crossed low from the left and Klasnic clipped a first-time shot past Boruc to give it the lead and a subsequent victory it fully deserved. Scolari faces Portsmouth New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari will begin his Premier League career with a home game against FA Cup winner Portsmouth, while champion Manchester United will host Newcastle as it opens its bid for a third straight title. The league released its fixtures list Monday for the 2008-09 season, which starts Aug. 16. League Championship winner West Bromwich Albion faces a daunting opening day trip to Arsenal. Ferguson and Scolari will face each other for the first time at Stamford Bridge on Sept. 20, with the return trip Jan. 10 at Old Trafford. The dates could move slightly when the live TV fixtures are determined. United will travel to Liverpool on Sept. 13 and Arsenal on Nov. 8. The Red Devils will host Liverpool on March 14 and Arsenal on May 16 in the penultimate round of matches. – Reuters/AP __
