Croatia clinched a place in next year's World Cup finals on Sunday after holding Greece to a goalless draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Athens to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory in their playoff tie.
The teams played out a disappointing goalless draw in the opening Euro 2004 Group B clash.
Croatia and Argentina reached the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, winning in doubles to take unassailable 3-0 leads over Chile and Netherlands respectively. Seven times champions Sweden took a 2-1 lead over Israel with doubles victory for Robert Lindstedt and Simon Aspelin over Andy Ram and Amir Hadad.
The thought of Neymar tearing your team into pieces might be enough to give some coach's nightmares, but Croatia's Niko Kovac isn't losing any sleep over the threat posed by the Brazilian phenom ahead of Thursday's World Cup opener.
After thrashing an accommodating Ireland side 4-0, holders Spain may find Croatia a tougher nut to crack when they meet in Gdansk on Monday in a game that will decide who tops Euro 2012 Group C.
The surprise result leaves Group B wide open. France lead with four points, England, Croatia have two and the Swiss one.
Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura endeared himself to Brazil fans with a contentious penalty award in the World Cup opener on Thursday, as Neymar put away the spot kick to give his side a 2-1 lead against Croatia late in the Group A opener.
With a jam-packed schedule brimming with both legendary athletes and captivating storylines, Paris 2024 promises unforgettable moments.
Chile, Austria, Croatia, Israel, Romania and the Netherlands secured places in the World Group of the Davis Cup for 2009 after completing playoff victories in the reverse singles on Sunday.
Ireland led the way on Friday as they and Croatia reeled off convincing away wins to move within reach of booking their places in the Euro 2012 soccer finals. Ireland won 4-0 in Estonia in the first leg to erase memories of previous play-off disappointments while Croatia crushed Turkey 3-0 in Istanbul.
Last week Anita Rao Kashi wrote about 9 reasons to visit Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Here are 10 more reasons why you must visit the country
Gritty Croatia came back from 1-0 in extra-time to claim a 4-2 penalty shootout victory and with it a spot in the semi-finals.
Spain must continue this improvement in order to beat Croatia in the final in Rotterdam on Sunday, Manchester City midfielder Rodri said.
The 33-year-old centre back Lovren has faced Neymar on three occasions and lost every time, with the unstoppable Brazilian scoring four goals against him.
Juan Ignacio Chela held his nerve to seal a 3-2 victory over holders Croatia to enter the Davis Cup semi-finals.
Bora Gojo and Marin Cilic gave Croatia a 2-0 lead over India, winning the opening singles, in their Davis Cup qualifier in Zagreb on Friday. Gojo, ranked 277th, put the hosts ahead with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over world No. 132 Prajnesh Gunneswaran while world No. 37 Cilic was taken to two tie-breakers before prevailing over 182-ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(8), 7-6(8).
Goals by Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic earned hosts Croatia a 2-0 friendly win over Israel in Osijek on Wednesday in a free-flowing match containing several missed chances.
Croatia's defeat meant this could be the end of the road for Luka Modric as far as his international career is concerned.
The Ad hoc committee is tasked with overseeing and supervising WFI's operations, which include athlete selection, submitting entries for athletes to participate in international events, organising sports activities, handling bank accounts, managing the website, and other related responsibilities.
The Indo-Australian pair will now meet the sixth-seeded Argentine duo of Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
In Geneva, Bagchi would succeed Indra Mani Pandey who is set to return to New Delhi.
The coaches of bitter Balkan rivals Serbia and Croatia were confident their teams would reach the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil after they were drawn together in a tough European qualifying Group A.
In a bold decision, Underdogs India have preferred Ramkumar Ramanathan over No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal for their Davis Cup qualifier against top seeds Croatia, beginning in Zagreb on Friday.
These heart-rendering moments were grace personified and will stay in the memory of every football fan, irrespective of allegiances.
Brazil are going home empty handed after they suffered yet another heartbreaking World Cup exit to a European rival -- and the quarter-final defeat by Croatia will hurt as they let victory slip through their fingers just three minutes from the final whistle.
Croatia showed they are well-equipped to make a serious bid for the Euro 2008 title when their reserves swept aside Poland 1-0 in their final Group B game on Monday.
Slaven Bilic's relished Croatia's stunning 2-1 victory over Germany which left his team in the driving seat in Euro 2008's Group B and gave him a glorious feeling of deja vu. The Croatian coach played as a central defender in their 3-0 1998 World Cup quarter-final defeat of the Germans but was at a loss in the aftermath of Thursday's repeat win over this year's favourites, which of the triumphs mattered more to his country.
Kvitova and Vekic had played twice on Saturday after a rain delay on Friday but it was the Czech who did not drop a set in the entire tournament.
Coming into the do-or-die match, Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes, with a combined age of 86, won 6-3, 6-7(9), 7-5 after two hours and 21 minutes against Pavic and Skugor, ranked 15 and 32 respectively.
England's Euro 2008 hopes finally disappeared at Wembley on Wednesday when they lost 3-2 to already-qualified Croatia.
Mario Mandzukic and Nikola Kalinic grabbed hat-tricks as Croatia achieved a record win as an independent nation by demolishing San Marino 10-0 in their final Euro 2016 warm-up match in Rijeka.
'That's something that you don't see very often because the wounds of the war are still fresh and we are very happy with the way these people showed their support. They fully deserve to have this event'
Croatia, helped by a mistake by veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, held Italy to a 1-1 away draw on Sunday, but their evening was ruined by their fans who twice interrupted play by throwing flares onto the pitch.
Britain who topped Group B in the Davis Cup after their win over France on Sunday now face Serbia, as the draw for the Final 8 Knockout stage was announced on Tuesday. Serbia finished second behind Czech Republic, but clinched their place in the Final 8 with a win over Spain.
In another life, Mario Balotelli and Antonio Cassano could have been Italy's leading comedy double act but their attacking partnership on the field is under threat ahead of the Euro 2012 Group C clash with Croatia on Thursday.
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna won the decisive mixed doubles to snatch a 2-1 victory in the Hopman Cup.
Spain's bid to become the first team to win three successive major international titles began in unconvincing fashion after Italy repelled Iberian flair with Latin artistry to earn a 1-1 draw at Euro 2012 on Sunday.
France produced one of soccer's most famous comebacks on Tuesday to scrape into next year's World Cup finals via the playoffs while Portugal blazed through after Cristiano Ronaldo conjured up a sensational hat-trick.
Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira paid tribute to Croatia's stubborn performance as the holders got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start.
Livakovic became only the third goalkeeper to save three penalties in a shootout at the World Cup after compatriot Danijel Subasic (versus Denmark 2018) and Portugal's Ricardo (versus England 2006).
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