VIENNA, June 8 (Reuters) - Croatia got their Euro 2008 campaign off to a winning start on Sunday when a fourth-minute Luka Modric penalty proved enough to beat co-hosts Austria 1-0 in the opening game of Group B.

Croatia were well worth their win against a team placed 92nd in FIFA’s world rankings and set the pace before group rivals Germany and Poland met in Klagenfurt later on Sunday (1845 GMT).

Austria have been widely tipped to lose all three games in their first appearance at a European Championship. Though they were keen enough, their disjointed efforts betrayed a lack of competitive action and they only came alive in the last 20 minutes.

Croatia, noisily backed by around 20,000 of their fans in the team’s red and white chequered shirts, arrived at the tournament full of confidence after seeing off England from their qualifying group.

The decisive moment came minutes after their supporters had taken their seats after the anthems.

Ivica Olic was chasing a hopeful ball towards the byline when he was clumsily brought down by Rene Aufhauser and Modric converted the spot kick straight down the middle.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said: ‘We are happy to collect three points from the opening match which is always tough.

‘I am not entirely happy with the performance in the second half, but we were very good in the opening period and should have led by a bigger margin at halftime.

‘Although we were on the back foot after the interval, we had several promising breaks.’

Summing up, he said: ‘We are delighted because we got the start we wanted and it will give us a lot of confidence. I have to congratulate my players for the effort.’

Austria defender Martin Stranzl said: ‘It’s not really that bitter of a defeat. We played very well after the first 25 minutes… Unfortunately we weren’t able to score.

‘They got the penalty early and then there were two situations later where there could have been a handball called against them. But the referee didn’t make the call. That’s football.’

Modric’s goal immediately settled the Croatians, whose neat-passing midfielders began coolly knocking the ball around.

Olic and Mladen Petric both went close to touching in a second after a dangerous low Darijo Srna free kick, before Petric, unmarked in the area, blasted wide after a deep cross from Vedran Corluka.

Austria looked shell-shocked by the early setback and only late in the half did they build any sort of attacking pressure, their best effort coming when Joachim Standfest steered a header just over the bar.

The home side were more positive after the break, pinning Croatia back for long periods and swinging in some dangerous crosses. But a poor final ball too often let them down.

The introduction of Umit Korkmaz for the last 20 minutes added some bite to the Austrian attack as they built to a rousing finale, but Croatia held out.

Ballack bids to lead Germany’s revival

TENERO, Switzerland, June 7 (Reuters) - Nervous Germany need a captain’s performance from Michael Ballack against Poland on Sunday to revive the spirit of the 2006 World Cup and end a bleak run at the European Championship finals.

Germany last won a match in these championships in the 1996 final and even their unbeaten record against Poland (11 wins and four draws in 15 games since 1933) will not stop them feeling jittery heading into their Group B opener in Klagenfurt.

‘You’re always nervous,’ said Ballack, who has been back to his commanding best in recent matches for Chelsea.

‘However much we insist we can end this black series at the Euros we can’t promise victory,’ he added at a news conference.

‘But we know we’ve worked as hard as possible to get here. We have to show bite, will-power and positive aggression.’

Germany, three-times European champions, beat Poland in the group phase of their home World Cup two years ago and Ballack believes a win could set off another wave of euphoria back home.

‘The mood could be even better this time,’ said the midfielder.

Coach Joachim Loew, who replaced Juergen Klinsmann after that memorable month in 2006, urged caution against a Poland side coached by Dutchman Leo Beenhakker.

‘We were lucky to beat Poland last time,’ said Loew, remembering it took a 91st-minute goal from substitute Oliver Neuville to seal a 1-0 victory.

‘They offered tremendous resistance and two years on they’re a much stronger side under Beenhakker.’

Poland did indeed look strong in qualifying, where they finished ahead of Portugal, and the coach said that achievement would give them confidence.

‘We have our own philosophy and we are not going to change it just because we are up against Germany,’ Beenhakker said.

‘The players are completely relaxed, there is no stress and we are looking forward to the challenge.’

Speaking about Ballack, the Dutchman said: ‘He can only hurt us when he has the ball so we’ll try to deny him possession’.

Lukasz Piszczek has been added to Poland’s squad after winger Jakub Blaszczykowski dropped out on Thursday with a hamstring injury.

A day later, injured keeper Tomasz Kuszczak was also ruled out of the finals. Poland were awaiting UEFA permission to call up Wojciech Kowalewski as a replacement.

Germany have no injury worries but Loew must decide whether to play Lukas Podolski alongside his fellow Polish-born striker Miroslav Klose or go for Mario Gomez.

Podolski could also drop back to left-midfield in place of Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Croatia confident ahead of Austrian challenge

Croatia boss Slaven Bilic has backed Luka Modric to take centre stage at Euro 2008 in the absence of Eduardo - and the Tottenham midfielder is confident he can live up to expectations.

Modric and his team-mates consigned England to a summer of friendlies against USA and Trinidad and Tobago, and now they are ready to enhance their own reputations further.

Bilic’s name already crops up when a Barclays Premier League job becomes available, while Modric has earned a £16.5million move to White Hart Lane from Dinamo Zagreb.

Spurs fans will get a glimpse of Modric on Sunday when they face joint hosts Austria in Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium.

‘I’m confident I’ll live up to their expectations,’ said Modric. ‘I think I’ll do well, but the most important thing is the team.’

Modric explained the importance of Bilic to his development.

‘We’ve been working together for three-and-a-half years and Mr Bilic trusted me from the start,’ he added.

‘He trusted me to show what I can do on the pitch. It’s a pleasure to be able to work with someone like him.’

Bilic believes Croatia have a chance to upset traditional heavyweights such as France or Italy, which has been helped by those two countries being in the same group as Holland.

But Bilic admits losing Eduardo, their top scorer in qualifying, will be a factor after the Arsenal forward’s sickening ankle injury in February.

‘Losing Eduardo was a big blow for us,’ said Bilic.

‘We’re simply less good without him. I have other excellent strikers, but without Eduardo we’re not the same team.’

Despite the setback, Bilic is confident heading into the tournament, offering the optimism that has inspired his country and has seen him as hot property among young coaches.

He added: ‘I believe that we are strong enough to take the title.

‘Look at our qualifying record. We’re not only hoping we can give anyone a decent game, we’re expecting it.

‘We have grounds for hope: we have a good team, a quality team. We qualified from one of the toughest groups, beating England twice. We also had to play Russia and Macedonia and we were the first side to win in Israel for four or five years.

‘There is a very realistic possibility a surprise package will win like Greece did in 2004 and I think we are quite capable of doing it.

‘We don’t feel under any more pressure than we did on the road to the finals. Pressure, if it’s positive, is the best motivating factor and it makes the players give 110% in every game.’

There is less expectation on Austria heading into their opening game of the tournament, with coach Josef Hickersberger upset earlier in the week as players turned up late to join the squad.

Team manager Andreas Herzog said: ‘There were two or three minor things which did not fit into the coach’s system.

‘He talked to the team about them and the issue is over.

‘The first game of the tournament is the most important. We can only get by Croatia by giving 100%. But our players are very well prepared and have justifiable hopes that we can beat Croatia.’

Among the decisions Hickersberger faces is choosing his first-choice goalkeeper, with former Arsenal stopper Alex Manninger and former Chelsea man Jurgen Macho in the running.

Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz has been struggling with a calf problem but is expected to play in a match they start as underdogs.

Midfielder Umit Korkmaz feels it can work in favour of the joint-hosts that they are unfancied.

‘Everybody is underestimating us and we will strike like a bomb,’ he said. Team-mate Christoph Leitgeb added: ‘The chances of us reaching the quarter-finals are high. Croatia have weaknesses in defence, which we have to take advantage of.’

Swiss co-hosts meet Czech Republic in opener

BASEL, June 6 (Reuters) - Euro 2008 gets underway on Saturday with co-hosts Switzerland pitting their promising young team against an experienced Czech Republic side (1600 GMT) keen to prove their best days are not behind them.

Koebi Kuhn’s Swiss squad are one of the youngest at these finals but include several players who have already experienced two major tournaments.

Our players have developed and ripened since the 2006 World Cup,’ captain Alex Frei told reporters at the team’s base camp.

‘I believe in the quality of the team and I know it is hungry for success. We want to write history and now have the chance to do so in our own country.’

The former Czechoslovakia won Euro 1976 and recent successes for the side include an appearance in the 1996 final and a run to the 2004 semi-finals.

But the international retirements of Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved along with the loss through injury of captain Tomas Rosicky have raised doubts over the pedigree of this squad.

‘I don’t know why people would say we are not as good as we were before,’ midfielder David Jarolim told reporters at the team’s training ground in Seefeld, Austria.

‘We have qualified for the last three tournaments in a row. That shows how strong we are and we will prove it again at Euro 2008.’

Neutral fans will hope to see plenty of goals with the Group A game bringing together two of the tournament’s most prolific strikers.

Frei has scored 35 times in 59 matches for Switzerland while towering Czech forward Jan Koller boasts a record of 54 goals in 87 internationals.

Switzerland will struggle to contain the 2.02-metre tall Koller, particularly with regular central defender Patrick Mueller yet to prove his match fitness after missing the majority of the season through injury.

‘We won’t be man-marking Koller,’ said Swiss assistant coach Michel Pont. ‘Our team has coped with Zinedine Zidane (of France) and plenty of other great players in the past without assigning defenders to particular players.

‘We won’t start doing so now against the Czechs, not least because they have plenty of other attacking options.’

Czech coach Karel Brueckner did not give any hints as to which of those options he would exercise but has faced repeated calls from the media to drop Milan Baros and play Koller alone up front.

Baros was Euro 2004’s top scorer but has failed to find the net for his country since March 2007.

Portugal’s Gomes hunting for goals against Turkey

NEUCHATEL, Switzerland, June 6 (Reuters) - Another two-goal winning performance from striker Nuno Gomes against Turkey would suit Portugal fine in their Euro 2008 opener at 1845 GMT on Saturday.

Nuno Gomes, who is expected to lead the line in the Group A game in Geneva, struck twice to give Portugal a 2-0 win over the Turks when they last met, in the Euro 2000 quarter-finals.

The result had other ramifications because coach Fatih Terim, now in charge of Turkey but then about to join Fiorentina, signed the Portuguese striker for the Italian team.

The two, who have a strong mutual respect for each other, meet again but on opposite sides as Portugal look to win a trophy they have edged ever closer to over the last 12 years.

Portugal, quarter-finalists in England in 1996, reached the 2000 semi-finals with that win over Turkey, and then the final when they hosted the tournament four years ago, only to become the victims of giant-killers Greece.

With Cristiano Ronaldo, then a raw if very talented teenager but now arguably Europe’s top player, the Portuguese hope to finally lift their first major trophy.

‘Like all of us, Ronaldo will defend Portugal up to the last minute of the last game. He knows his importance to the team,’ defender Fernando Meira told a news conference on Thursday.

First, they must make a better start than in 2004 on home soil when they were upset in their opening match — an ominous earlier defeat by the Greeks.

‘We have to make a winning start although I don’t agree with those who believe that whichever team wins this match will be practically in the quarter-finals,’ said goalkeeper Ricardo.

Standing in Portugal’s way is Terim, whose high rating outside his country took him from Fiorentina to AC Milan, and his strongly committed Turkish team.

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has a fit squad after the minor scare when Ronaldo had to put ice on a knock on his right ankle during training on Monday, the squad’s first day in Switzerland.

Midfielder Deco, also expected to play, did light training apart from the rest of the squad on Thursday for muscle toning purposes, team doctor Henrique Jones told reporters.

‘However, I can guarantee he will be 100 percent for the first game against Turkey,’ he said.

The Turks, making their first appearance at a major tournament since finishing third at the 2002 World Cup, are also injury free going into the match.

Midfielder Hamit Altintop, who was out for two months after breaking a metatarsal bone in a friendly against Belarus in March, has declared himself fit despite suffering a muscle problem in training last week.