Mladen Petric scored a goal and set up another to help give Croatia a 3-0 victory over Latvia in the teams' opening qualifier for the 2012 European Championship.
Petric scored Croatia's first in the 43rd minute after a mistake by Latvia goalkeeper Andris Vanins, who punched the ball straight to the Croatia striker when he was wide-open in front of goal.
Just minutes into the second half Petric arched a pass across Latvia's defense that found teammate Ivica Olic, who headed in at the far post.
Croatia captain Darijo Srna scored the game's most impressive goal in the 82nd, when he took a high-bouncing rebound from 25-yards out and fired a blistering shot through Latvia's defense and into the net.
Latvia's attack was lackluster throughout the game, with its only opportunity coming from Maris Verpakovskis' stunning bicycle kick, which was cleared by a defender after catching Croatia goalkeeper Vedran Runje unaware.
Lineups:
Latvia: Andris Vanins, Oskars Klava, Juris Laizans (Vitalijs Astafjevs, 87), Deniss Ivanovs, Pavels Mihadjuks, Aleksandrs Cauna, Maris Verpakovskis, Andrejs Rubins (Jurijs Zigajevs, 85), Girts Karlsons (Artjoms Rudnevs, 63), Kaspars Gorkss, Maksims Rafalskis
Croatia: Vedran Runje, Ivan Strinic, Josip Simunic, Vedran Corluka, Ivan Rakitic, Ognjen Vukojevic (Danijel Pranjic), Eduardo Alves da Silva (Nikica Jelavic, 63), Darijo Srna, Ivica Olic, Niko Kranjcar, Mladen Petric (Mario Mandzukic, 84)
