Croatia are dark horses for Euro 2008 who will look to their exciting young midfield for inspiration.
Few teams looked as slick and dangerous in qualifying as Croatia - just ask Steve McClaren - and hopes were high among the 'Vatreni' fans of a glorious summer at the European Championships.
However, those ambitions were significantly tempered in February when Eduardo, who had netted 10 goals in 12 games in Group E, suffered a horrific leg injury while playing for Arsenal. The Brazilian-born striker had been the spearhead of a stylish, counter-attacking 4-1-3-2 system that bore little comparison to the strong-arm tactics employed in the last three major tournaments, all of which saw Croatia sent home after the group stages.
Craft and guile from the midfield is a given with Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar in tandem, but an ageing defence and the lack of a consistent goalscorer could curb Croatia's challenge in Austria and Switzerland.
Their best showing at a major tournament came at the 1998 World Cup in France, where they finished third, and they were quarter-finalists at Euro 96.
The youngest coach at Euro 2008 at the age of 39, Slaven Bilic has given Croatian football a much-needed shot in the arm since making the step up from Under-21 coach to national team boss in 2006.
Bilic made his name as a sturdy centre-back with local club Hajduk Split and was a part of the very first Croatian squad formed following independence from Yugoslavia in 1990.
He moved to Karlsruhe before being snapped up by West Ham for £1.3million in January 1996 and after a good showing at Euro 96, he joined Everton the following summer for £4.5million.
Injury and suspensions blighted his stay at Goodison Park but he was an integral part of the Croatia squad that won bronze medals at France 98, even though he lost respect for his feigned injury against the hosts in Paris which led to Laurent Blanc being banned for the World Cup final.
Back problems eventually led to Bilic taking a huge pay-off to leave Everton and return to Hajduk and he eventually retired in 2001, taking up the U21 reins a few years later.
With his stud earring and punk rock passions - his band Rawbau's song Vatreno Ludilo (Blazing Madness) is the official Croatia anthem for Euro 2008 - Bilic comes across as something of a rebel, but he is actually a deep football thinker and methodical in his approach.
He ditched the team's traditional back three but refused to sacrifice a playmaker and successfully hit upon a system that makes full use of talented schemers like Modric and Kranjcar.
