SUBSTITUTE Goran Vlaovic became Croatia's unlikely national hero after he showed top stars Davor Suker and Alan Boksic the way to goal with a late winner against gallant outsiders Turkey in a rain-drenched battle at the City Ground, Nottingham last night.
Both sides looked set for a point apiece, matching the efforts of group D rivals Portugal and the holders Denmark on Sunday, when a lightning burst by Padova's Vlaovic suddenly put the Croats on top of the table.
A Turkish corner sparked off "familiar celebrations among the ranks of 15,000 banner-waving, lung bursting Turkish fans who urged their side, quoted at 100-1 for the title, towards the brink of a surprise victory.
But the set-piece ended in tears for the Turks as a hasty clearance suddenly found Vlaovic, the 72nd minute replacement for the new Juventus striker Alen Boksic, galloping clear just six minutes from the end.
He outpaced a pair of frantic challenges and calmly rounded the head-long dive of goalkeeper Rustu Recber to plant an inch-perfect shot just inside the post.
It was the goal the Croats must have despaired of seeing after they passed up a hat-trick of glorious opportunities to reward their superior quality of distribution and movement.
Mario Stanic headed straight into the arms of Recber early on after running clear on the blind side to meet Suker's free kick.
Then Boksic headed inches over from a Suker cross his only reward a gash over an eye which required a heavy bandage, but eventually contributed to his exit in the second half.
Croatia could hardly have expected such a return from his replacement. But Vlaovic might already have snatched the winner before he actually scored. Tugay Kerimoglu's faulty back-pass let him in and only Rustu's bravery denied the opening with a dive at the striker's feet.
Suker, the 12-goal top scorer in the qualifying competition, who is set to join Real Madrid from Seville next season, should, have done the trick in the 67th minute.
But after Robert Jarni pulled a splendid cross towards the far post Suker only managed to head it back across the goal and wide. The let-off encouraged Turkey, in their first appearance in the finals, to step up the tempo of their game and for a spell Croatia were threatened with defeat as Arif Erdem and skipper Ogun Ternizkanoglu blasted long range shots just off target.
But Croatia always seemed to have that little bit in reserve and their touch of class finally paid off with the late winner.
Croatia's coach Miroslav Blazevic has boasted his team will go all the way but they will need more of the finishing quality Vlaovic showed last night.
