Euro 2012: Ireland v Croatia - live! Half-time emails: "The one time we want the Whistle Man to whistle he's probably gone and got his half time cup of tea. Bugger," sighs David Brady. "Well after seeing the Irish I think it will be hard for England to be worst team in the tournament, won't it?" says John. No, no they're quite capable of that. Half-time: Croatia keep possession as the half comes to an end. Then Perisic roams forward and Rakitic heads just over. Ireland were sliced and diced down the left. Two bad, bad lapses of concentration cost Ireland in that half. 45 min +1: Andrews is booked for a clatter on Mandzukic. The performance has been completely atypical from Ireland - great going forward but a horrible shambles in defence. 44 min: Firecrackers have been let off and smoke drifts across the pitch so the restart is delayed. "In the spirit of this evening's match, you may be interested to read what the British ambassador in Yugoslavia wrote in 1935 about the Croats and the Irish - certainly not politically correct, but typical for the era," says Christian Nielsen. "'[It is a] little misleading to call the Croats the Irish of the Balkans. ...their cultural superiority and, to put it bluntly, their lack of guts ("proud and warlike" is the last thing I should have called them) distinguished them from the Irish Celts.'" Hey! The English commentators were patronising the Irish 70-odd years ago! Croatia 2-1 Ireland (Jelavic 42) Mandzukic on the charge. He's stopped but the ball comes to Srna and his cross is cut out for a corner. The ball breaks for Jelavic - Ireland players are gathered round staring at him - and he pokes it home. Terrible defending. Again. 40 min: Corner to Croatia. Keane tries a few stepovers just outside his own area. Surprisingly this works and Ireland clear. Jelavic then has a header that goes a few yards wide. Still an open, superb game. "I reckon every time Whistle Man blows the ref should stop play and look into the stands at him expectantly as if waiting for his decision," says Phil Sawyer. That should confuse him into silence pretty sharpish. 38 min: Ward and Doyle combine again but Doyle can't get enough power on his header. Or direction. 36 min: Keane is nearly though but Strinic gets a vital touch to nick the ball off him. "Re: Whistle Man," says David Brady. Is there a chance some poor bugger has swallowed a whistle and every time something of note happens he let's out an inadvertent peep? No? 34 min: Modric has 100 times the skill and poise of anyone else on the pitch. Time seems to slow down when he gets the ball. Duff passes to St Ledger in the area with a Croatia player bearing down on him - he gets it away, just. 32 min: Whistle Man has quietened down. Hopefully for good. Now we just need to silence Alan Shearer. "Whistle Man with a vuvuzela-sized whistle, throwing toilet paper, doing the Poznan," suggest Marie Meyer for annoyance chart-toppers. 29 min: Modric is again left unmarked but Duff races back to disposses him. "Tom, just general question for any Irish mbm-ers," says Phil Walsh. Do they get annoyed by English commentators patronising statements? (that's how the Irish celebrate, they really are special, etc) . I get annoyed by it and I've only been to Ireland twice. Everyone was up for the craic though and liked a pint of the black stuff. The plucky little guys. 27 min: Ireland let Modric stroll up the pitch - after all he's only the most dangerous player on either side - and he nearly plays Mandzukic in. Note to Ireland: mark good players. 25 min: Corluka goes in for a two-footed tackle: it was well-timed but referees don't like that sort of thing and Ireland win the free-kick. "What is worse, vuvuzelas or the Whistle Man in the stands?" asks Chris Nemeh. Whistle Man with a vuvuzela-sized whistle. 23 min: I had this down as an extremely dull match but that early goal has forced Ireland to go for it and it's end to end at the moment. Perisic unleashes from 25-yards and Given saves well. 21 min: Croatia back into the attack. They win a corner, Whistle Man blows as it floats in everyone ignores him - we're learning - and a blistering shot from Croatia sails wide. Croatia 1-1 Ireland (St Ledger 18 min) Superb free-kick and St Ledger creeps past Corluka creeps in to head home. I thought it was offside because the Whistle Man decided to blow just before the goal went in. Corluka gave the kick away too to complete a woeful double. 18 min: Dunne waits for 30 seconds wondering what to do with the ball - an opportune time for Jelavic to wrestle the ball off him. Dunne takes him down and Croatia win a corner off the resulting free-kick. Ireland get it away but some wag (no Wag) in the crowd has got hold of a whistle and is using it to their heart's content, confusing the bejesus our of everyone. 15 min: O'Shea's through ball for Andrews has too much through. "What is the Uefa rule that prevents a steward from popping onto the pitch for five seconds and picking up that annoying lump of toilet paper on the far touch line?" demands Marie Meyer. I think they have to wait until the third floor traps needs resupplying. 12 min: Free-kick for Ireland after Doyle is pushed just outside the area. The ball is tapped to Andrews and the shot slams into the wall. Ireland should go 1-0 more often, they're quite the attacking force like this. 10 min: Decent response from Ireland here. They've had a few forays into Croatia's half and O'Shea has a throw-in level with the six-yard box. Croatia get it away though. Ward then slashes the ball across the pitch and his dangerous cross is cleared. Just. 8 min: Doyle heads the ball down for Duff. He cuts inside and sends a shot goalward but it lacks the pace and direction to trouble Coratia. Not that that mattered with Mandzukic's shot ... "If the Croats were Greeks this would really be the Euro's Group of Debt, wouldn't it?" crackles Patrick Cullen. 5 min: Just as well Ireland have the attacking players to chase a game, eh? Oh. That really was a shocker of a goal to concede for such an organised team. Still, they have a long time to find the equaliser. Keane charges forward and goes down but the referee waves play on. Ireland 0-1 Croatia (Mandzukic 2min) You know that famous Irish solidity? Well ... Mandzukic puts in a weak header - he has enough time to pick himself up before doing so and it trickles past 138-year-old Shay Given. 1 min: And we're off. Seconds it took Peter Drury to mention "the craic": 0.00034. "Is there no comments section?" says Cian O Suilleabhain because he can't say it in the comments section because there isn't one. I want to write something sarcastic about 'the greatest fans in the world' sinking to the low levels normally reserved for their English counterparts in Poznan last night... You've done it though, Cian! It's a sign of how low England have sunk in the world that we can't even throw plastic chairs at European riot police properly anymore. 7.31pm: "Shouldn't a preamble include predictions?" asks Thomas Krantz. A friend of mine told me the Irish play like Italy except without any good players and with wooden legs? Any truth in this? No, that is the Cartoon Pirates XI. I'm going for 1-1. Ireland to hold out until 60 minutes against Croatian artistry before Richard Dunne scores a late bullet header to rescue a point. Oh go on then (part two) Oh, go on then. 7.22pm: Croatia, even without the injured Olic, have brilliant attacking players and no defenders. Ireland have brilliant defensive players and Kevin Doyle up front. Seven-nil to Ireland then. 7.21pm: Team news: Rep of Ireland: Given, O'Shea, St. Ledger, Dunne, Ward, McGeady, Whelan, Andrews, Duff, Doyle, Keane. Subs: Westwood, Kelly, McShane, Walters, Gibson, Hunt, O'Dea, Long, Cox, Green, McClean, Forde. Croatia: Pletikosa, Srna, Corluka, Schildenfeld, Strinic, Vukojevic, Rakitic, Modric, Perisic, Mandzukic, Jelavic. Subs: Kelava, Simunic, Buljat, Pranjic, Badelj, Vrsaljko, Dujmovic, Kalinic, Kranjcar, Vida, Eduardo, Subasic. Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Holland) 7.18pm: "I'm excited. But more than that, I'm nervous," says the jauntiest of my colleagues, Ian McCourt. He should be nervous too - not only is he Irish, he also bears an uncanny resemblance to Luka Modric (and David Silva on a good day) meaning that if Modric does score tonight mcCourt will be beaten to a pulp by his friends. No change from normal then. 7.15pm: Evening and welcome to the most underwhelming preamble of all time. I was covering the French Open final, and due to a combination or rain, 44-shot rallies and Novak Djokovic's stubborn refusal to do the honourable thing and lose when he should so I have only just started coverage. Did Spain play today?