Slaven is allowing the squad conjugal visits

Several reasons may be given for Croatia’s unexpected victory over former tournament favourites Germany last night - the Deutscher’s lack of cohesion, Schweini’s sending off, Croatia’s ‘balls out’ attacking style - but the chaps over at The Offside Euro 2008 blog have got the famous victory figured out:

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has banned visits to his Euro 2008 camp by friends and acquaintances but he is happy to let his players enjoy an afternoon with their wives and girlfriends … as long as they announce their visits in advance and don’t disrupt the morning and evening training sessions.

In World Cup 2006, Italy and Germany lifted the nookie ban, and the former won it while the latter finished third. So with this in mind, the ear ring-wearing rocker has landed on the correct side of the ‘sex before sports’ debate.

From this situation, one thing is clear: if Portugal are to have any hope of defeating likely quarter-final opponents Germany, they’d better ship Nereida Gallardo out to Swissaustria post haste.

(By the way, where the heck is Nereida? Towards the end of the domestic season she was turning up to virtually every Manchester Utd game. Has anyone seen her at Euro 2008? Is she torn between her native Spain and neighbours Portugal? Let us know.)