Croatia's Bilic hails powerhouse champ

Beaten Croatia coach Slaven Bilic hailed defending champion Spain, saying his team had tried but failed to give it a run for its money in its Euro 2012 Group C wrap-up match in Gdansk.

"We were playing against world champions and were trying to neutralize their game," Bilic said.

"I think they had a hard time.

"Some teams can beat Spain, but it's not easy. We knew we'd have two or three opportunities. It's not easy when you play against Spain. You have to score when you have the chance."

While striking a critical note over German referee Wolfgang Stark's handling of the match, he said any niggling incidents had not been game-changers.

"When you play against the world and European champions they don't need help. They had some help from referee on little details, but what can I do? This is not important."

Having failed to progress after Italy sealed the other quarterfinal berth in Group C by beating Ireland 2-0, Croatia's hopes were dashed of a return to its 1990s glory, when Bilic was a player.

Bilic said, however, that a second consecutive European title was not certain for Spain.

"We all know they are world and European champions and they want to win. They want trophies. They are the best team in the world," he said.

"We were close, it's true, we could have won tonight and we could have stopped them tonight. I don't see them as big favorites. There are loads of teams that maybe don't have the same class, but they are hungry and aggressive." he said.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 06/20/2012 page24)