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We've Shown What We Can Do - Simunic

Croatia's Josip Simunic was full of confidence following his side's 2-1 win over EURO 2008's pre-tournament favourites Germany...

Slaven Bilic's men had a timely return to form following their fairly fortunate 1-0 win over co-hosts Austria on the opening day and there was little doubt who was the better side yesterday evening at the Wöthersee Stadion.

"We didn't have the best of games against Austria and we wanted to show that we can play a lot better," Šimunić explained to EURO2008.com. "We played an outstanding game and every player on the field gave his heart. We deserved to win.

"In every duel, our players showed we wanted the ball and we showed initiative going forward. We defended very well and every player did his job all over the park."

The stopper was also glad that he and his fellow centre-back Robert Kovac have defied their critics. "I've actually got a headache. Myself and Robert have a good partnership.

"We actually had a lot of people criticising us before the tournament, but I think that in the last two games we, and the rest of the team, have shown what we can do.

"We had a big blow before the tournament, losing Eduardo da Silva, and people were writing us off, but we're still showing we can come up with good results.

"I think this will mean a lot [to the fans]. A few of my friends have sent me messages saying Zagreb is on fire.

"They're celebrating and they have every reason to do so. Our fans are outstanding."

He added that the squad themselves, while enjoying the experience, are not getting too carried away. "It's a nice feeling but we still haven't achieved anything.

"Our goal before the tournament was to reach the quarter-finals and we're playing one game at a time. But we're enjoying it – we're having fun."

Goal.com - Euro 2008 - We've Shown What We Can Do - Simunic