( CNN ) -- Croatia held off a furious late onslaught from Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria to win 1-0 in their opening Group B match in Vienna on Sunday . Emmanuel Pogagtetz , left , fouls Croatia striker Ivica Olic to concede the match-winning penalty . The Croatians took the lead in the fourth minute when midfielder Luka Modric coolly slotted home from the penalty spot after Emmanuel Pogatetz clumsily body-checked striker Ivica Olic in the area . Slaven Bilic 's team dominated the first half , and should have gone further ahead in the 35th minute but Olic 's strike partner Mladen Petric blazed over the bar with a left-foot volley after beating the offside trap to run on to Vedran Corluka 's cross . Austria 's main threat had come from set-pieces , but they were not able to capitalize on a string of corners . However , the home players kept battling in the second half and squandered a series of chances to level the score in the final 15 minutes . Martin Harnik fired over the bar on 78 as Croatia scrambled to clear the danger , then substitute Ivica Vastic had a powerful header well saved by goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa , who then kept out another low effort by the veteran midfielder . Pletikosa also had to deny a driven shot from Umit Korkmaz , who also came off the bench , while another substitute in Roman Kienast flicked a header just wide from a free kick in the third minute of time added on . Croatia went into the tournament as one of the outside bets , having qualified top of their group ahead of Russia with a victory away to England which eliminated the British team . However , their chances of success were dealt a massive blow when top scorer Eduardo da Silva was ruled out of the tournament due to a broken leg . None of Croatia 's strikers managed to score in the warmup matches , and the Arsenal forward 's goal-poaching ability was sorely missed on Sunday . The winning goal came after Modric and Olic combined down the left wing from a throw-in , and Pogatetz clearly impeded the striker well away from the Austria goal . The Middlesbrough defender was booked for protesting the referee 's decision , but he could have no complaints with the ruling . Austria are the lowest-ranked of the 16 teams at the tournament in 92nd place , but showed great courage against a 15th-seeded Croatia side stacked with attacking talent . But they joined fellow co-hosts Switzerland in losing their opening match , following the Czech Republic 's 1-0 victory on Saturday . Croatia next play Germany on Thursday , when Austria take on Poland . Coach Bilic was delighted to start with a victory , but was not so impressed with his team 's performance . `` Some players were overwhelmed by playing at a great tournament but we started off with the best possible way -- with a win , '' Bilic told reporters . `` In the first 35 minutes we played excellently , of course the early lead contributed to that . `` They exerted more pressure in the second half and I 'm sure that is not to do with a lack of strength from our players . But we confined ourselves to our penalty area too early . `` The last 15 minutes or so when they play all or nothing , you can do that -- but we started in the 60th minute or so . I did n't think the players were happy when they got back in the dressing room . I turned on the CD player and said they should sing because they won . '' Austria coach Josef Hickersberger was left frustrated by his side 's failure to take their chances . `` This was the worst possible start you can have in an opening match of a major tournament , '' he said . `` We took some time to recover , during the first 30 minutes we were nervous . `` For the rest of the match we were playing the way we should have been playing . We even dominated in the second half of the match . We had good opportunities but unfortunately we were n't able to score a goal , so we are empty-handed . In our remaining games we need four points to go through . '' Austria : Jurgen Macho ; Sebastian Proedl , Emanuel Pogatetz , Martin Stranzl ; Joachim Standfest , Rene Aufhauser , Andreas Ivanschitz , Jurgen Saumel , Ronald Gercaliu ; Martin Harnik , Roland Linz . Croatia : Stipe Pletikosa ; Ivan Corluka , Robert Kovac , Josip Simunic , Danijel Pranjic ; Darijo Srna , Niko Kovac , Luka Modric , Niko Kranjcar ; Ivica Olic , Mladen Petric .
Croatia beat Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria 1-0 in opening Group B match . Luka Modric scores fourth-minute penalty after striker Ivica Olic is fouled . The result means the Croats will play their first game against a European team since they were knocked out of last year's World Cup by eventual champions Spain on penalties following extra time. Croatia next play Germany on Thursday , while Austria take on Poland .