ZAGREB: Ivica Olic’s season went from bad to worse when he was ruled out of the Euro 2012 finals after a right thigh injury was judged more serious than first thought writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Croatia called up Dnipro’s Nikola Kalinic to replace the 32-year-old veteran who was injured in a 1-1 draw against Norway is Oslo on Saturday.

Olic was the luckless man who missed Bayern Munich’s fourth penalty in their Champions League Final against Chelsea last month. Bayern were 3-1 up in the shootout when Olic’s kick was saved by Petr Cech. Chelsea recovered to win the shootout 4-3.

“”The injury that did not seem serious but unfortunately it proved to be a serious one,” said Croatia squad doctor Zoran Bahtijarevic after Olic underwent tests and scans back in Munich. “Such an injury requires a recovery of between four and six weeks so (Olic) was dropped from the list at the last moment”

Olic has struggled with knee and hip problems since being hailed as one of the best players on view at the European finals four years ago in Austria and Switzerland. Croatia are in Group C with champions Spain, Italy, and the Republic of Ireland. They open against the Irish on June 10 in Poznan.

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