With 64 percent ball possession, Spain certainly seemed to have flooded goals against the Croatian side, but with their play, the Croatians managed to keep them restricted to 1-0.
The Croatians managed to keep the Spanish guns on hold till the 88th minute, through their extensive defensive play, where at one point they had 7 of their players holding the fort.
It was all thanks to substitute Jesus Navas, who scored two minutes before the time, brilliantly assisted by Iniesta to ensure a victory for the Vicente Del Bosque's side.
After match Del Bosque insisted "The result was a good one for our team. When you don't have your greatest game but manage to win, it gives you confidence. "Croatia tightened up the spaces near their goal to prevent the Spaniards from netting the ball which really increased the frustration of the World Champions.
"We were lacking penetration, they closed up the spaces well and that caused us a lot of problems. We had some nervous moments" said Del Bosque.
The Croatians managed to keep the Spanish guns on hold till the 88th minute, through their extensive defensive play, where at one point they had 7 of their players holding the fort.
It was all thanks to substitute Jesus Navas, who scored two minutes before the time, brilliantly assisted by Iniesta to ensure a victory for the Vicente Del Bosque's side.
After match Del Bosque insisted "The result was a good one for our team. When you don't have your greatest game but manage to win, it gives you confidence. "Croatia tightened up the spaces near their goal to prevent the Spaniards from netting the ball which really increased the frustration of the World Champions.
"We were lacking penetration, they closed up the spaces well and that caused us a lot of problems. We had some nervous moments" said Del Bosque.
Spain stared their domination right from the first half as they desperately looked for an opening goal.
In the 12th minute Iniesta made an effort to send one home, after receiving the ball from David Silva. But could not succeed.
Similarly, Torres missed out in the 23rd minute and so did Silva in the 30th minute.
It was the Croatian keeper, Pletikosa who was good at his job, as he held fort with seven crucial saves.
The first half ended with the score line 0-0, and Spain had to stretch their goal thirst to the next half.
Croatia had to win the game anyway to make it to the next round, and even a draw was not sufficient for them.
But they were busier defending their post rather than attacking.
However, at certain instances they did manage to put themselves at scoring positions, but failed to execute it.
Slaven Bilic, Croatia coach said, "We were waiting for them at the back in the first half; we weren't keen to attack them at that stage. We waited for the last 30 minutes of the game to take risks. Spain had a hard time against us. We could have won tonight, we went close."
The match winning decision of Del Bosque came in the 67th minute, when he substituted Navas with Torres, who later went on to score the winner.
Croatia could see the end of their dreams after the goal. They were awarded with a free kick in injury time, where even their keeper rushed in forward to make a chance. But all in vain
The final whistle blew and it was the end of the Croatian run in the Euro Cup 2012. The Croatian coach, who was leaving the side to join FC Lokomotiv Moskv, looked quite disappointed as he said, "I will leave here and join my new team in the next few days, and I would like to say thank you to the Croatian Football Federation for taking a chance on me six years ago when I was a young coach without much experience."
He further added, "I may be leaving but I can assure you that you haven't seen the last of this Croatian side yet."
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