Football Live

Wednesday November 21, 2007 Finished

2 - 3

England

  • Lampard 56’ (pen.)
  • Crouch 65’

Croatia

  • Kranjcar 8’
  • Olic 14’
  • Petric 77’
  1. Euro 2008 qual. - Report: England sink without trace

    Euro 2008 qual. - Report: England sink without trace

    England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, losing 3-2 to Croatia after a shambolic performance at Wembley. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • England
    • Croatia
    • 90+3' IT'S OVER!! ENGLAND HAVE BLOWN IT!!! STEVE MCCLAREN LEAVES THE ENGLAND DUGOUT FOR THE FINAL TIME!! Russia go through, and England - deservedly - miss out on a place at Euro 2008.
    • 90+3' Another long ball results in.. nothing. No chance.
    • 90+2' Richards concedes a free-kick and that could be curtains. Just clueless from England.
    • 90+1' England corner hurriedly taken by Beckham but it is cleared and Croatia nearly score on the break. Scrambled clear.
    • 90+1' Another desperate long ball goes into the Croatia box, but it is cleared. Another is hacked wildly clear and England have a throw deep in the Croatian half on the left.
    • 90' McClaren has another sip of water. Good to be adequately hydrated when you get lynched...
    • 89' Srna fires a low shot straight at Carson. The crowd are too tense to cheer ironically as he holds it.
    • 87' Every England throw and goal kick is greeted with a giant roar, but they just don't look like scoring.
    • 86' Darren Bent runs onto a lobbed through pass, hold off his man and shoots... JUST OVER!! So close from the sub.
    • 84' Another Croatia change, as Rakitic comes on for Ivica Olic. Slaven Bilic went nuts when that Petric goal went in, incidentally.
    • 83' Lescott fouls Petric and Croatia will have the chance to hold onto the ball and frustrate England.
    • 82' It is all looking horribly route one from England, as high balls are pumped into the Croatian box and repelled with ease.
    • 80' Darren Bent comes on for Joe Cole, and England are going three up front.
    • 80' Croatia stretch England down the right and Lescott turns Srna's cross behind for a corner.
    • 78' Olic nearly sneaks through but is just flagged offside. England gave just over 10 minutes to conjure another equaliser!
    • 77' GOOOAAALLL!!! CROATIA ARE IN FRONT AGAIN!!! Mladen Patric smashes an absolute blockbuster into the right corner from the edge of the box!! Stunning strike, and England are on their way out!!
    • 77' Beckham is back well to help out with the defensive donkey work, but the danger remains.
    • 75' Off goes the scorer of the first goal, Niko Kranjcar, for Danijel Pranjic. There's no doubt the Croats still want to win this.
    • 73' Something of a lull descends over the game, which you'd have to say is probably a good thing.
    • 70' Richards is brought down 35 yards out. Surely not worth a Beckham shot? He floats it to Campbell at the far post and the knockdown is volleyed by Gerrard. Blocked.
    • 69' A change from Croatia, with Mladen Petric coming on for Eduardo Da Silva. More or less a like-for-like swap up front.
    • 68' As things stand, England will qualify, in case you're wondering. Thanks to their superior head-to-head record against Russia.
    • 67' Croatia play a corner short from which Srna shoots... wildly wide.
    • 66' Amazing comeback. And this might not be very patriotic talk, but one wonders how we are going to cock this up now...
    • 65' GOOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!! ENGLAND ARE LEVELLL!! David Beckham floats in a perfect cross from the right, Crouch controls with his chests and volleys gleefully into the bottom corner!!
    • 63' Terrible from Bridge, who surrenders the ball to Olic, whose left-foot shot is thankfully scuffed horribly. A Bridge too far, etc.
    • 62' England are passing the ball around with slightly more assurance, and just as I type that Lampard gives the ball away.
    • 59' BRILLIANT SAVE CARSON!!! Olic gets a powerful header on goal from the corner but Carson denies him with a superb reflex stop!! What a game! Not really in a good way, but what a game!
    • 59' OLIC OFF THE BAR!!! He gets the wrong side of Bridge but the defender gets enough of a touch to deflect the ball onto the top of the woodwork!
    • 58' Well, it's up for grabs now. England need another to get the point they need, and it must be remembered they aren't playing very well. But the crowd are going absoutely nuts.
    • 56' GOAL!! Lampard drills the penalty low into the bottom-left corner, sending Pletikosa the wrong way! England have been gifted a route back into the game. Brainless by Simunic.
    • 55' PENALTY ENGLAND!! A foul by Simunic on Defoe! An unnecessary shirt-tug! That was obviously going to be caught by Pletikosa! A way back for England?
    • 53' Eduardo springs the offside trap and runs away from Campbell... good save Carson! Well blocked. England are playing with fire here.
    • 52' Croatia clear the corner and are away on the break. Danger here, but Gerrard makes a crucial interception. That was a three-on-one.
    • 51' England free-kick in 'Beckham country'... it deflects off the wall and out for a corner. Which Becks takes, of course.
    • 50' Eduardo da Silva is booked for a sort of trip on Richards. He doesn't care.
    • 49' Please excuse the timeline above these comments. It isn't 63 minutes, obviously. The timeline is obviously paying tribute to the England defence by being absolutely dreadful.
    • 48' A great ironic cheer goes up as Carson collects an overhit clearance. Comedy. Down at the other end Joe Cole chucks himself to the deck and demands a penalty. Referee Frojdfeldt rightly tells him to do one.
    • 47' England play the ball around neatly but Croatia are organised enough to swat away the attack. At least the crowd are still behind them.
    • 46' Second half under way, and it is still raining. McClaren emerges from the tunnel to boos a few seconds after kick-off. He'll have to leave Wembley in disguise tonight.
    • 46' David James is wearing a wry smile on the sidelines. Well he might, given his goalkeeping difficulties.
    • 46' Two England changes: Jermain Defoe and David Beckham for Gareth Barry and Shaun Wright-Phillips. Why would you take off your best player so far? Bizarre.
    • 45+2' BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! That's the sound Wembley makes as the half-time whistle goes. Awful. Just awful. On this form, thank God we're not going to qualify.
    • 45+1' England free-kick from the left touchline. Awful from Gerrard, cut out by the first man. It comes back in but Crouch heads wide.
    • 45' Croatia threaten again down the left, then England come clear and Simunic blocks Wright-Phillips. Uncompromising from the Croatian. And a foul.
    • 43' Steve McClaren is going to have to deliver a hell of a team talk. Only he won't. Sorry Steve - you're not up to the job.
    • 41' My word. Carson muffs another easy save, but Kranjcar can't do anything with the rebound. A horrible evening for Scott Carson.
    • 39' Goal in Andorra! It was humiliating enough relying on them to hold Russia, and they have given way. Russia lead 1-0 and will be going through unless England complete a miraculous turnaround. Credit to the Andorrans for lasting about half an hour longer than us. Dmitri Sychev with the goal, incidentally.
    • 38' Gerrard tries to shoot but the ball gets away from him and he dives blatantly. He has the gall to shout at the referee and is very lucky to escape a booking. He does like to take a dive, does the Liverpool skipper.
    • 37' Poor clearance from Carson. Just about his first touch of the game other than fetching the ball from his net.
    • 35' A Gerrard cross just fails to find Crouch and Croatia come away on the break. This time England are ready for it and win the ball back. Better late than never.
    • 34' Robert Kovac has been booked. It is not immediately apparent why, but hey, don't shoot the messenger.
    • 33' Barry swings a left-footed free-kick to the back stick where two men are waiting, but Pletikosa punches away.
    • 32' A dismal half-hour for England. Darren Bent has returned to his seat and the ubiquitous SWP wins a free-kick on the England right.
    • 30' Never fear! Darren Bent is warming up! Is Spurs' fourth-best striker the man to save England? We may be about to find out.
    • 29' Crouch wins another header 30 yards out, but he is surrounded by opponents and loses the ball. Where are Gerrard and Lampard?
    • 27' Croatia pour forward with Corluka down the right. Lescott clears his cross for a corner, but England are absolutely nowhere.
    • 26' England can't get hold of the ball here as Croatia work it to Srna on the right. He guides a superb cross to Kranjcar at the back stick, who eludes Richards and heads just wide.
    • 25' Croatia pass the ball sideways, as you would if you were 2-0 ahead.
    • 23' Eduardo races through again but is caught just offside.
    • 22' As it stands: Don't worry, we're still going through! That is because Russia are drawing 0-0 with Andorra. Not for long, one suspects.
    • 20' Right, here's a chance. England free-kick on the right 30m out. Where's Becks? Barry to take... deflected for a corner.
    • 17' Wright-Phillips crosses from the right again but Cole meets it with a wild shot.
    • 16' Wright-Phillips cuts inside from the right and then trips over the ball. Steve McClaren sips impassively from a bottle of water.
    • 15' It was a great reverse ball by Eduardo to find Olic, but the defending was so poor. Just the two goals needed, then.
    • 14' GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!!! IT'S TWO!!! INCREDIBLE!! Eduardo carries the ball away on the break and slips the ball through for Ivica Olic, who rounds Carson and slips into the empty net! England want an offside flag but Wayne Bridge is playing him well onside.
    • 13' England go close again!! Wright-Phillips finds Richards on the overlap, but Crouch is just beaten to his pull-back. Everything good from the home team is coming down the right. Josip Simunic is all over the place.
    • 11' Cole and Crouch work the ball to Wright-Phillips on the right side of the box. He's unmarked, but can't beat Pletikosa with his angled shot!
    • 10' Gerrard lines up an England free-kick 30 metres out but wastes it, shooting weakly straight at Pletikosa.
    • 9' Unbelievable. It is hard to convey just how bad that error was from Scott Carson. Worse than anything Robinson has come up with, for sure.
    • 8' GOOAAALLL!!! CROATIA IN FRONT!! What a blunder by Scott Carson!! Kranjcar takes a speculative long shot, and the Villa keeper somehow fails to keep it out as it bounces just in front of him.
    • 7' Great Wright-Phillips cross to Crouch who, instead of going for goal, heads the ball down and it is cut out. Frustrating.
    • 6' Is that a Joe Cole diving header? It certainly is. He escapes his marker and gets decent pace on the effort, but it is straight at Pletikosa.
    • 5' Wright-Phillips dribbles down the right wing. Croatia drop off until the edge of the box, then Simunic dispossesses the Chelsea man with laughable easy.
    • 3' Yeah, that second pun was bobbins, wasn't it? It's not only England who are starting the game slowly... Crouch drops deep to collect a long Campbell clearance and lays it off to Bridge, but Croatia always look comfortable and the ball ends up going for a goal-kick.
    • 2' Steve McClaren is sheltering under a big red-and-blue umbrella on the touchline. A tabloid headline-writer's dream. Will it be Singing in the Rain or Down the Drain?
    • 1' Game on! Referee Peter Frojdfeldt gets us under way. England - in all white - get us started.
    • - A belting rendition of the National Anthem. Rubbish tune though. This pitch doesn't look great, to be honest, and the rain won't help.
    • - Predictably, but disappointingly, the Croatian anthem is booed by a number of fans. That's right, make them angry. Well done.
    • - Out come the teams - both in white tracksuit tops - to a tremendous roar. Prince William is tonight's selected dignitary. Prime Minister Gordon Brown not in attendance - he is considered a bad luck charm for English teams.
    • - Elsewhere, Northern Ireland's hopes are still alive at half-time in their match in Spain. They are 0-0, while Sweden are drawing 1-1 with Latvia. If Northern Ireland win and Sweden lose, Nigel Worthington's men are through. A long-shot, but up for grabs.
    • - A great atmosphere inside Wembley, although a slight sens of apprehension hangs in the air. The 90,000 present know it won't be a pleasant hour and a half.
    • - Steve McClaren has cited "events, things that have happened in recent matches" as the reason for dropping Paul Robinson. On Beckham's benching, he said the team needs pace down the flanks to make the 4-3-3 system work.
    • - Plenty of fans are already in their seats a good 35 minutes before kick-off, including a small but vocal contingent of travelling fans. They might be through already, but there's no way the Croatians will roll over.
    • - Team news: As if you didn't know, Scott Carson is in for Paul Robinson - who is not even in the match squad. David James on the bench. Elsewhere, Shaun Wright-Phillips is in for David Beckham, who is at least a substitute. Croatia line up as expected, although we are not exactly sure how Slaven Bilic will line up his centre-back-heavy defence.
    • - It's a rainy old evening in north-west London. Possibly good news for nil-nil fans, but it could make for a stodgy, nervy spectacle.
    • - We all know what is at stake. If England draw or win, they go to Euro 2008. If they lose, they are out - that is unless Russia fail to beat Andorra. And, let's be honest, they won't.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of England versus Croatia from Wembley!

  • Summary

    • 86' Darren Bent runs onto a lobbed through pass, hold off his man and shoots... JUST OVER!! So close from the sub.
    • 77' GOOOAAALLL!!! CROATIA ARE IN FRONT AGAIN!!! Mladen Patric smashes an absolute blockbuster into the right corner from the edge of the box!! Stunning strike, and England are on their way out!!
    • 65' GOOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!! ENGLAND ARE LEVELLL!! David Beckham floats in a perfect cross from the right, Crouch controls with his chests and volleys gleefully into the bottom corner!!
    • 63' Terrible from Bridge, who surrenders the ball to Olic, whose left-foot shot is thankfully scuffed horribly. A Bridge too far, etc.
    • 59' BRILLIANT SAVE CARSON!!! Olic gets a powerful header on goal from the corner but Carson denies him with a superb reflex stop!! What a game! Not really in a good way, but what a game!
    • 59' OLIC OFF THE BAR!!! He gets the wrong side of Bridge but the defender gets enough of a touch to deflect the ball onto the top of the woodwork!
    • 56' GOAL!! Lampard drills the penalty low into the bottom-left corner, sending Pletikosa the wrong way! England have been gifted a route back into the game. Brainless by Simunic.
    • 55' PENALTY ENGLAND!! A foul by Simunic on Defoe! An unnecessary shirt-tug! That was obviously going to be caught by Pletikosa! A way back for England?
    • 53' Eduardo springs the offside trap and runs away from Campbell... good save Carson! Well blocked. England are playing with fire here.
    • 41' My word. Carson muffs another easy save, but Kranjcar can't do anything with the rebound. A horrible evening for Scott Carson.
    • 39' Goal in Andorra! It was humiliating enough relying on them to hold Russia, and they have given way. Russia lead 1-0 and will be going through unless England complete a miraculous turnaround. Credit to the Andorrans for lasting about half an hour longer than us. Dmitri Sychev with the goal, incidentally.
    • 26' England can't get hold of the ball here as Croatia work it to Srna on the right. He guides a superb cross to Kranjcar at the back stick, who eludes Richards and heads just wide.
    • 14' GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!!! IT'S TWO!!! INCREDIBLE!! Eduardo carries the ball away on the break and slips the ball through for Ivica Olic, who rounds Carson and slips into the empty net! England want an offside flag but Wayne Bridge is playing him well onside.
    • 13' England go close again!! Wright-Phillips finds Richards on the overlap, but Crouch is just beaten to his pull-back. Everything good from the home team is coming down the right. Josip Simunic is all over the place.
    • 11' Cole and Crouch work the ball to Wright-Phillips on the right side of the box. He's unmarked, but can't beat Pletikosa with his angled shot!
    • 8' GOOAAALLL!!! CROATIA IN FRONT!! What a blunder by Scott Carson!! Kranjcar takes a speculative long shot, and the Villa keeper somehow fails to keep it out as it bounces just in front of him.
    • 6' Is that a Joe Cole diving header? It certainly is. He escapes his marker and gets decent pace on the effort, but it is straight at Pletikosa.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of England versus Croatia from Wembley!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Peter Fröjdfeldt

  • England

    Manager: Steve McClaren

    Captain: Steven Gerrard

    On the Field

    • Carson
    • Richards
    • Campbell
    • Lescott
    • Bridge
    • Wright-Phillips
    • Lampard
    • Barry
    • Cole
    • Gerrard
    • Crouch

    Subs

    • Beckham
    • Hargreaves
    • James
    • Cole
    • Brown
    • Defoe
    • Bent

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Croatia

    Manager: Slaven Bilic

    Captain: Niko Kovac

    On the Field

    • Pletikosa
    • Corluka
    • Kovac
    • Simic
    • Simunic
    • Srna
    • Kovac
    • Modric
    • Kranjcar
    • Eduardo
    • Olic

    Subs

    • Babic
    • Runje
    • Petric
    • Leko
    • Pranjic
    • Rakitic
    • Knezevic

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None