It’s been a long time since plucky little Croatia won the hearts of neutrals with their dazzling third-place performance at World Cup ‘98. Gone are the glory days of a strike force led by Davor Suker and Alen Boksic. Instead, after the goal-less draw of today’s match, this latest generation of Croatian footballers seemed as ordinary as the little known Swiss team they played.

Even with the second-half sending off of Johan Vogel—Switzerland’s key holding midfielder quickly earned a second yellow when he kicked away the ball after already being booked for a foul—Croatia were toothless finishers. Niko Kovak missed an unmarked header and Dado Prso did little but earn a caution for diving.It was a stilted match, and any opportunity to generate flowing play was snuffed out by the presentation of nine yellow cards.

Oh well, England’s staggering defeat to France offered more than enough drama to make up for this unremarkable match. Atleast Croatia and Switzerland can take heart in the fact that England’s loss greatly increases their chances of pipping one of the pre-tourny favourites towards second-place in Group B.