Niko Kovac capped a first-half flurry with a goal in the 30th minute, and Croatia withstood a late rush by Moldova for a 1-0 victory Saturday in the team’s first of two preparation matches for the European Championship.

Kovac’s header off a cross from Ivan Rakitic followed a period in which Igor Budan, Ivica Olic and Rakitic produced five consecutive chances in the first 10 minutes.

Croatia also will face Hungary in Budapest on May 31 before heading to Vienna to open its Euro 2008 campaign against co-host Austria on June 8.

The match gave Croatia manager Slaven Bilic one of his last chances to test players like Schalke’s Rakitic, Parma’s Budan and HSV’s Olic, who will need to replace striker Eduardo Da Silva. The Brazilian-born winger who plays for Arsenal will miss the championship due to a broken left leg and dislocated ankle.

Bilic substituted Olic, Kovac, Budan and several in the second half, visibly weakening Croatia and enabling Moldova to dominate the last 20 minutes — including several chances by Valeriu Andronic and Alxandru Gatcan.

Besides missing Da Silva, Bilic also has worries about Mladen Petric, who sat on the bench during Saturday’s match with a lingering back problem.

Bilic has selected only six defenders in his squad, leaving to speculation that he is planning on an attacking strategy at Euro 2008.

Besides Austria, Croatia is joined in Group B by Germany and Poland.