Croatia beats neighbor Slovenia to qualify

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) -- Dado Prso scored the lone goal Wednesday as 10-man Croatia beat neighbor Slovenia 1-0 and clinched a berth in the 2004 European Championship finals with a 2-1 aggregate win.

Croatia dictated the flow of play throughout the match, but could not open the stubborn Slovene defense until the 61st minute, when rookie Tomo Sokota chipped a through ball to Prso, who made no mistake as he rushed into the box and sneaked the ball under goalkeeper Mladen Dabanovic.

Prso, who scored four goals in a recent Champions League match for Monaco against Deportivo de La Coruna, has been on a goalscoring fiesta as of late, nailing a winner in a domestic league clash and also the Croatian goal in the first leg 1-1 draw.

"We gave it our best, fighting to the end as much as we could," the 29-year-old Prso said. "I said earlier that the best team would come out on top after two games and we did."

Croatia, a World Cup semifinalist in 1998, has never lost to its western neighbor and former partner in the old Yugoslavia, winning five prior clashes and drawing three.

Otto Baric made radical changes to the side that played the opening leg, with six new faces in the starting lineup. The makeover returned some flair to the side, with some backheels and neat combinations.

However, the win was not easy.

Slovenia packed its defense, and as the match progressed it looked as though the Croat barrage would not work, particularly after Juventus defender Igor Tudor got his marching orders after a second yellow card in the 60th minute.

But instead of turning the match in favor of the Slovenes, fortune shined on the Croats, who struck back with a move against the run of play.

Sokota, who plays for Benfica, hit the post in the sixth minute with a shot from just inside the box that rebounded off the post, and then Giovanni Rosso squandered a splendid chance just before the interval when he blasted a close range volley over the goals.

Slovenia was bidding for its third straight appearance in a major tournament after squeezing through to Euro 2000 and last year's World Cup, also in playoffs.

Coach Bojan Prasnikar's tactics rested on preserving the 1-1 draw from the first leg with some sturdy defending and incessant fouls, which would have seen his side through on away goals.

"Just as it looked as though we could cling on to our advantage as we hoped, we made a blunder in defense," Prasnikar said. "Our concentration just collapsed when Tudor was sent off."

The hosts defended admirably, particularly in aerial play and in goals, with Dabanovic often making timely exits from his goal to punch or catch high balls.

Still, Slovenia failed to unleash a single shot at goal and could only manage to congest the Croat box in a desperate effort to equalize.

"You can imagine how I feel," Slovenia captain Miran Pavlin said. "It will take us a while to get over this. We conceded a silly goal, but that's also just part of soccer."

The match was played against the backdrop of simmering political tensions. Zagreb and Ljubljana have been embroiled in diplomatic clashes over issues ranging from territorial borders to a jointly run nuclear power plant.

Police stepped up security in and around the stadium, but there were no immediate reports of violence.

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Lineups:

Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa, Igor Tudor, Robert Kovac, Josip Simunic (Marko Babic, 54th), Niko Kovac, Boris Zivkovic Dario Srna, Milan Rapaic (Stjepan Tomas, 69th), Giovanni Rosso, Dado Prso (Jerko Leko, 76th), Tomo Sokota.

Slovenia: Mladen Dabanovic, Muamer Vugdalic, Aleksander Knavs, Fabijan Cipot (Spasoje Bulajic, 90th), Amir Karic, Nastja Ceh, Miran Pavlin, Mladen Rudonja (Amer Kapic, 46th), Goran Sukalo (Ermin Rakovic, 69th), Milenko Acimovic, Zlatko Zahovic.