Croats target England scalp.

Croatia coach Otto Baric and his troops are confident they can beat England and claim a place in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals.

The Balkan nation has consistently punched above its weight in world football since seceding from Yugoslavia and almost claimed another famous scalp yesterday.

Trailing 1-0 at half-time to an Igor Tudor own goal, the Croats steamrollered European champions France in the first minutes of the second period to take a 2-1 lead with a Milan Rapaic penalty and a Dado Prso goal.

However, David Trezeguet grabbed a share of the spoils for the French and denied the Croats revenge for their 1998 World Cup semi-final defeat by Les Bleus.

That run to the last four ( they finished third ( remains Croatia's best footballing achievement although they also beat Italy in the 2002 World Cup.

Only Sven-Goran Eriksson's England stand between them and the quarter-finals and Baric scents another famous coup for the nation of only 4.4 million citizens.

"Against England we will be 100% motivated and ready," said Baric who will quit as Croatia coach after the tournament.

"My boys are very motivated. After the 0-0 draw game with Switzerland I gave them all a day off but they all stayed in the camp except Robert Kovac.

"That shows how motivated they are and I am very proud of them."

The Croats had five players booked in their first match ( earning a rebuke from UEFA ( and four against France but Baric denied his men were brawlers.

"Against Switzerland half of the yellow cards were unfair," insisted Baric who is 71 years old.

The England game on Monday promises to be a fiery atmosphere with the Estadio Dr Magalhaes Pessoa lit up last night by some passionate support by Croatia's fans who could prove a match for England's fans.

On the eve of the France game, the Croatian players had visited the Roman Catholic shrine of Fatima near Leiria where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three Portuguese children in 1917.

And Baric considers his prayers were partly answered even if victory eluded him.

France coach Jacques Santini, in the position of having played both England and Croatia, was reluctant to predict a winner and is instead focused on his own match with Switzerland where a draw will be sufficient to see Les Bleus into the last eight.

"It's true that it will be a conflict of styles but I don't know who will win," said Santini. "My job is to look after the French national team."

Santini, who said his team had been given a lesson in humility by the Croats, was disappointed to miss out on qualification with a match to spare.

That would have allowed him to rest his players against the Swiss but now he cannot afford to take any risks.