Germany get winning start amid fans trouble

By Jon Bramley

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria, like Switzerland 24 hours before them, could not give their fans a victory to kick off their Euro 2008 campaign on Sunday leaving both tournament co-hosts in real danger of making a first round exit.

A determined but less than sparkling Croatia beat Austria 1-0 in Vienna courtesy of a fourth minute penalty. Switzerland lost by the same scoreline against Czech Republic in the first of the June 7-29 championship's 31 fixtures on Saturday.

Sunday's action on the pitch would have been a welcome distraction for Austrian security chiefs, who were concerned that a spate of fighting and vandalism around Saturday's games was going to continue on Sunday, notably in Klagenfurt.

The modestly sized Austrian city was to stage the Group B match later on Sunday between one of the tournament favourites, Germany, and Poland who have never beaten their arch-rvials. The fixture has a history of tension between rival fans.

Austrian police said they had arrested 17 people overnight in Klagenfurt ahead the match and another five foreign fans were arrested in the hours before the 1845 kickoff.

DARK HORSES

On the pitch at the Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna, Croatia, one of the tournament's dark horses, were unable to match the flowing football served up by one of the favourites Portugal, who dispatched Turkey 2-0 in Group A on Saturday.

Austria, by far the lowest ranked side in the finals at 92nd in the world, were expected to lose all their three group matches before the tournament started but they gave Croatia a real run for their money before conceding defeat.