Sub Ramelow sinks unlucky Croatia
SPLIT, Croatia (Reuters) -- Substitute Carsten Ramelow fired a last-minute goal to give Germany a 2-1 victory over Croatia in a friendly international between two Euro 2004 hopefuls.
Ramelow's shot from 20 meters took a vicious deflection off midfielder Jerko Leko, to beat keeper Stipe Pletikosa.
Croatia had levelled four minutes earlier with a header from Mato Neretljak after piling on the pressure in the second half after Miroslav Klose put Germany in front on 34 minutes.
"Everything was not perfect but it was important for us to win, especially after that heavy defeat by France (3-0 in November)," said German coach Rudi Voeller.
"They put us under a lot of pressure and we suffered during the first 20 minutes but after that we played better,"
Croatia looked insecure at the back in the first half and Germany took advantage when Klose struck after a pass from Kevin Kuranyi - the only score from several good chances for both sides.
It was Germany's first away win in a friendly since they beat Hungary 5-2 in Budapest in August 2001.
"It was certainly not a great game but it's a nice to way to start the year. We have a lot of work to do before we can challenge the real top teams but this is something we can build on," said Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn, who made several fine saves.
Croatia went close to an early goal when Josip Simunic's 15th minute header was cleared off the line by Philippe Lahm.
"Even though we lacked several good players, we played well for much of the game and created five or six great chances," said Croatia coach Otto Baric.
"On the other hand, we conceded goals that we shouldn't have, simply due to lack of concentration in the key moments."
Croatia are grouped with England, France and Switzerland in the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal while Germany face the Netherlands, Latvia and the Czech Republic.
