Soccer:Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has confirmed Vedran Corluka is fit to face Ireland in theit opening Euro 2012 Group C game in Poznan on Sunday. The former Tottenham defender, who played 11 qualifiers and scored once, underwent a scan on hamstring injury in Warsaw this morning and the results were positive.

Bilic recently lamented the absence of Bayer Leverkusen’s Corluka, capped 58 times, after a 1-1 friendly draw with Norway, and sees the experienced full-back as a vital component of his side, both for his ability in attack and his influence on the pitch.

It would have been just one more headache for the Croatian coach to deal with after he lost veteran striker Ivica Olic (hamstring) to injury on Monday and was forced to replace midfielder Ivo Ilicevic (ruptured calf muscle) with Sime Vrsaljko yesterday.