Bullish Bilic vows to sink Spanish Armada

Warsaw Croatia coach Slaven Bilic thinks there has never ever been a team that is better than Spain's current side. However, he stresses, let no one fool themselves: that does not mean they are unbeatable. "Switzerland and other teams showed that you can beat Spain. It can happen," Bilic, who will step down from the Croatia job after the finals to manage Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, told DPA. "But Spain is always going to have more possession. Spain is always going to have more chances," he noted.Bilic's men are to face the world and European champions in Group C at the forthcoming Euros. "I've seen many different tactics from teams who have tried to play a different way against them. Some teams were attacking them. They pressure them very high.Some teams were playing like a normal game in the middle of the pitch. Some teams were straight away and sat back. And most of the times Spain is somehow finding the way to break, unfortunately of course, every way of playing." The side coached by Vicente del Bosque has dominated world football in recent years. In 2008, they lifted the continental trophy in Austria and Switzerland, with a pass-based style of play that has reaped plenty of praise. Two years later, they ratified that supremacy with the country's first-ever World Cup title. Now, in Poland and Ukraine, they seek an unprecedented treble that could push them ahead in debate as to which is the best team in history. "No one has done it. If they win it, then... They are anyway the best team ever for me. With or without wining," Bilic said. "Especially in this modern football because no one is so dominant. And nobody played that nice, that beautiful like they did." Bilic, 44, smiles in a resigned gesture as he argues his case. His men are to face Spain in their third first-round match, so the Croatia coach hopes to have done his homework by then. That means beating Ireland in their tournament debut, although that match will be "extremely hard." Best games "If we beat Ireland we have a good chance but they are thinking the same thing," Bilic said. "They are a very well-organised team, especially now under Trapattoni." Croatia's next rival is set to be the Italy coached by Cesare Prandelli. "It is no more defensive Italy. They play great football, [with] possession of the ball. They are sharp, quick, they attack you. And they defend good," Bilic said. "But we showed in recent history that we play our best games against best teams."