Croatia coach Slaven Bilic believes the seeds of his side's progress to the quarter-finals of the European Championships were sown during a difficult qualifying campaign.

Bilic was ridiculed for claiming that Croatia's group including Russia and England was the toughest in the draw, but he has been proved right as both his side and the Russians have made it through to the last eight at Euro 2008.

"I said at the time that our qualifying group was the most difficult and the reaction was laughter and ridicule," he told reporters.

"I said all along that the Russians were a great team and, I can't be sure, but I think England and probably Israel would have qualified for this tournament if they had been in an easier group.

"You saw what the Russians did to the Swedes. They broke them, they tore them apart. They showed their quality.

"But we knew before we got to Austria that we had a strong foundation for this tournament and that we could qualify for the quarter-finals and even further.

"I don't think there are favourites now. All sides have come this far due to three tough matches.

"But for us, a good result against another team is no longer a surprise. On the contrary, the opposite would be a surprise.

"In none of these games is there a clear favourite. All are favourites for title of European champion."