FOOTBALL Live

Wednesday September 10, 2008 Finished Maksimir

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Croatia

  • Mandzukic 78’

England

  • Walcott 26’, 59’, 82’
  • Rooney 63’

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  1. World Cup qual. - Walcott hat-trick inspires England

    World Cup qual. - Walcott hat-trick inspires England

    Theo Walcott finally gave England fans something to cheer with a hat-trick in a 4-1 demolition of Croatia in their World Cup qualifier. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Croatia
    • England
    • - Thanks for joining us tonight! What a night it's been... England finally giving their fans something to cheer about! Until next time!
    • 90'+3 There goes the final whistle! And it's a famous win for England, with Theo Walcott the hero!
    • 90'+1 Three minutes of extra time to be played.
    • 84' Walcott is taken off to a rapturous reception! And on comes David Beckham for a brief cameo.
    • 83' Straight away at the other end, James nearly makes another error... He hares out of the box, clashes with Mandzukic on the edge of the box! No foul, but James stays down... Srna picks up the ball but can only blast over!
    • 82' GOAL! IT'S THREE FOR WALCOTT AND FOUR FOR ENGLAND! AMAZING! Rooney's the architect, bringing down the ball with some fantastic control before playing his team-mate in... Walcott keeps his head and finishes past Pletikosa! What a performance!
    • 78' GOAL! Croatia pull one back through Mandzukic! Srna breaks quickly - although his foot appears to be rather high on Terry as he breaks clear - and plays in Mandzukic who has the easy task of slotting past James! 3-1!
    • 76' GOAL! ANOTHER! No, Lampard's effort is disallowed! Apparently it's Heskey who pushed Simunic... real shame, because that was a brilliant move from England!
    • 73' Croatia make a change... Olic trudges off and is replaced by Mandzukic.
    • 68' England should now be able to play this one out without too many problems... their fans are enjoying this one - they're ole-ing every pass!
    • 63' GOAL! ROONEY PUTS ENGLAND THREE UP! Incredible! The Manchester United man applies the finishing touches after good work from Jenas on the left! His pull back finds Rooney and he does the rest!
    • 62' The other Kovac is now taken off... to be replaced by Pokrivac...
    • 61' Heskey goes in on Kovacs - the one who is still on the field - and he's punished with a yellow card for his indiscretion.
    • 60' Well, what a difference a couple of minutes make!
    • 59' GOAL! WHAT A GOAL! ENGLAND GO TWO UP THROUGH WALCOTT AGAIN! But it's all about the build up... Heskey lays off for Rooney who feigns a shot before playing Walcott in again on the right hand side... the youngster takes one touch to control and then with his second he finds the back of the net! 2-0 England!
    • 57' Cole departs from the stadium on his buggy... let's hope he's okay... blood really was pouring out of his head.
    • 56' And Croatia make a change as Slaven Bilic re-organises. Off goes Petric and on comes Knezevic.
    • 55' Cole is bugggied off and he won't make it back... Jenas comes on in his place...
    • 54' Kovac lead with his arm there, definitely. But as ever, it's difficult to tell whether he meant it or not. Either way, Cole is in some trouble.
    • 53' Oh dear! Robert Kovac jumps with Joe Cole... and blood is drawn by the Croat's elbow on Cole's head... Cole hits the deck and looks in shock! Kovac is sent off! Croatia are down to 10 men! Cole stays down and looks in real trouble.
    • 51' England come again! Brown centres... Pletikosa fumbles and Heskey is close to taking advantage! England have started excellently this half!
    • 50' Lampard lashes the free kick goalwards! Pletikosa is forced into making a decent save, low down to his right!
    • 49' Rooney is stopped in his tracks by Simunic... he's in trouble here... that was a definite yellow card offence... but the ref decides to give a free kick only!
    • 47' Srna joins Simunic in the book after raking his studs down Ashley Cole's leg...
    • 47' No changes to tell you about...
    • 46' Back underway in Zagreb!
    • 45'+2 Indeed they do... England head into the dressing rooms in the lead, thanks to Theo Walcott's strike!
    • 45'+1 Way over the bar from the Schalke player and England should see this out to half-time.
    • 45' Rakitic is hauled down by Walcott as the winger finds himself tracking back... and it looks like he'll take this one himself...
    • 43' Croatia are beginning to play a few stray passes as the half draws to a close.
    • 42' Srna himself takes it... straight into the wall...
    • 41' Walcott comes back on to a chorus of whistles moments before Srna wins a free kick off Rooney, right on the edge of the box. Danger....
    • 40' Walcott looks to be in quite some pain... he's buggied off the pitch for treatment...
    • 39' Walcott breaks after Kovacs's dive does not win a free kick on the edge of the England box.... oooh, he's hacked down by Simunic! And the Croatian deservedly gets booked.
    • 38' England are playing with confidence tonight... they're playing a typical English game - high tempo and full of aggression.
    • 37' Olic upends Lampard in the middle of the park... free kick England.
    • 35' James has to deal with a difficult back pass from John Terry now... time to avert your eyes! But in fairness to the Pompey keeper, he does well to control it before booting to safety!
    • 31' Up goes a rendition of God Save the Queen! The England fans who have made the trip tonight are in good voice.
    • 30' So, half an hour gone and so far so good for England... Croatia always look dangerous on the attack though...
    • 29' At the other end, James flaps again and the ball falls for Olic! Blocked by an England shirt! Frantic stuff in Zagreb!
    • 28' Pletikosa takes the corner with ease and Croatia can launch an attack...
    • 27' And the ball falls to Walcott again in a similar position moments after the restart! This time Pletikosa gets there - as perhaps he should have done for the goal - to tip round for a corner!
    • 26' GOAL! England take the lead through THEO WALCOTT! The Arsenal man takes full advantage of a botched clearance from Pranjic which hits his own man before falling to Walcott who fires home from an angle!
    • 22' Big penalty shout for England as Simunic is all over Heskey in the box! Play on says the referee, despite the Croat having his arms all over him!
    • 19' What's this? Rooney in the left back position, conceding a corner... he's not going to score from there!
    • 18' Srna delivers a dangerous looking ball towards the near post! Terry stretches and manages to divert the ball behind for another Croatia corner! Sloppy defending from England there...
    • 17' The game is ebbing and flowing so far... neither side has really stamped their authority on it yet...
    • 16' But the pressure continues as Corluka heads off on a run... and he wins a corner... headed away at the near post by Cole...
    • 15' Danger man Modric jinks inside and out as Croatia come again on the attack... Ferdinand's there this time to save England...
    • 14' England win another free kick at the other end... Lampard takes it as Capello comes off his line to bark some instructions out...
    • 13' Brown concedes a corner on the near side... this could be dangerous for England now... James flaps! Corluka's there! But his effort, at the second attempt, hits the side netting! Real let off for England....
    • 9' Heskey does well to win a corner... but England can't make anything of it and Croatia end up getting the ball away to safety.
    • 6' Walcott bursts through onto Lampard's through pass! But he can't make any kind of contact on his shot! It bounces through to Pletikosa and Heskey goes for in for it! The keeper hangs onto it...
    • 4' Down at the other end, Lampard fires off a free-kick that bounces wide of Pletikosa's upright!
    • 3' Croatia on the front foot straight away... PRANJIC lets fly! It's a smart effort from the edge of the box! But James is well behind it and manages to hang on!
    • 2' There's a great atmoshphere in the stadium tonight... the Croats really think they can get one over England again.
    • 1' And here we go! Underway in Zagreb!
    • - Croatia fans boo throughout God Save the Queen....
    • - As for Croatia, it's pretty much as expected...
    • - So, Emile Heskey gets the nod to start up front and Theo Walcott retains his place on the right hand side, while there's no place for Jermain Defoe or David Beckham. Rio Ferdinand returns to partner John Terry and Wes Brown displaces Glen Johnson.
    • - And tonight's referee is Lubos Michel from Slovakia.
    • - And Croatia: Pletikosa, Simunic, R, Kovac, Corluka, Pranjic, Rakitic, Petric, N, Kovac, Srna, Modric, Olic - Subs: Runje, Krizanac, Mandzukic, Pokrivac, Knezevic, Leko, Klasnic
    • - The teams are in... this is how England line-up: James, Brown, Terry, Ferdinand, A, Cole, Walcott, Lampard, Barry, J, Cole, Rooney, Heskey - Subs: Robinson, Johnson, Beckham, Downing, Defoe, Upson, Jenas
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of tonight's big game in Zagreb!

  • Team Stats

    Croatia Stats England
    38% Possession 61%
    11 Shots 12
    4 Shots on target 6
    0 Saves 1
    5 Corners 2
    26 Fouls 19
    0 Offsides 3
    2 Yellow cards 1
    1 Red cards 0
    14 Tackles 17
    221 Accurate passes 414
    29 Bad passes 84

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Croatia
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Stipe Pletikosa 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0
      4 Robert Kovac 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 17 0 0
      6 Danijel Pranjic 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 16 7 3
      3 Josip Simunic 0 0 0 4 5 0 0 28 2 0
      5 Vedran Corluka 0 1 0 1 5 0 0 27 0 1
      10 Niko Kovac 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 15 1 4
      14 Luka Modric 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 33 5 1
      11 Darijo Srna 0 3 0 4 5 0 1 15 2 3
      7 Ivan Rakitic 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 22 6 1
      9 Mladen Petric 0 2 1 1 3 0 0 11 1 0
      18 Ivica Olic 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 6 1 1
      13 Nikola Pokrivac 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 4 0
      12 Vedran Runje 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Mario Mandzukic 1 2 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
      17 Ivan Klasnic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      2 Ivica Krizanac 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Jerko Leko 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Dario Knezevic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0
    • England
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 47 3 0
      3 Ashley Cole 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 51 15 2
      2 Wes Brown 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 40 1 4
      6 John Terry 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 51 5 2
      8 Frank Lampard 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 46 10 2
      4 Gareth Barry 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 53 16 3
      11 Joe Cole 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 8 0 0
      9 Emile Heskey 0 2 0 7 4 2 0 12 4 0
      10 Wayne Rooney 1 1 1 5 1 1 2 45 14 1
      7 Theo Walcott 3 4 3 1 2 0 0 16 0 2
      14 Matthew Upson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
      18 Jermain Defoe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      13 Glen Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 David Beckham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 1 1
      12 Paul Robinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Jermaine Jenas 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 21 15 0
      15 Stewart Downing 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • - Thanks for joining us tonight! What a night it's been... England finally giving their fans something to cheer about! Until next time!
    • 83' Straight away at the other end, James nearly makes another error... He hares out of the box, clashes with Mandzukic on the edge of the box! No foul, but James stays down... Srna picks up the ball but can only blast over!
    • 82' GOAL! IT'S THREE FOR WALCOTT AND FOUR FOR ENGLAND! AMAZING! Rooney's the architect, bringing down the ball with some fantastic control before playing his team-mate in... Walcott keeps his head and finishes past Pletikosa! What a performance!
    • 78' GOAL! Croatia pull one back through Mandzukic! Srna breaks quickly - although his foot appears to be rather high on Terry as he breaks clear - and plays in Mandzukic who has the easy task of slotting past James! 3-1!
    • 76' GOAL! ANOTHER! No, Lampard's effort is disallowed! Apparently it's Heskey who pushed Simunic... real shame, because that was a brilliant move from England!
    • 63' GOAL! ROONEY PUTS ENGLAND THREE UP! Incredible! The Manchester United man applies the finishing touches after good work from Jenas on the left! His pull back finds Rooney and he does the rest!
    • 59' GOAL! WHAT A GOAL! ENGLAND GO TWO UP THROUGH WALCOTT AGAIN! But it's all about the build up... Heskey lays off for Rooney who feigns a shot before playing Walcott in again on the right hand side... the youngster takes one touch to control and then with his second he finds the back of the net! 2-0 England!
    • 53' Oh dear! Robert Kovac jumps with Joe Cole... and blood is drawn by the Croat's elbow on Cole's head... Cole hits the deck and looks in shock! Kovac is sent off! Croatia are down to 10 men! Cole stays down and looks in real trouble.
    • 51' England come again! Brown centres... Pletikosa fumbles and Heskey is close to taking advantage! England have started excellently this half!
    • 50' Lampard lashes the free kick goalwards! Pletikosa is forced into making a decent save, low down to his right!
    • 29' At the other end, James flaps again and the ball falls for Olic! Blocked by an England shirt! Frantic stuff in Zagreb!
    • 27' And the ball falls to Walcott again in a similar position moments after the restart! This time Pletikosa gets there - as perhaps he should have done for the goal - to tip round for a corner!
    • 26' GOAL! England take the lead through THEO WALCOTT! The Arsenal man takes full advantage of a botched clearance from Pranjic which hits his own man before falling to Walcott who fires home from an angle!
    • 22' Big penalty shout for England as Simunic is all over Heskey in the box! Play on says the referee, despite the Croat having his arms all over him!
    • 13' Brown concedes a corner on the near side... this could be dangerous for England now... James flaps! Corluka's there! But his effort, at the second attempt, hits the side netting! Real let off for England....
    • 6' Walcott bursts through onto Lampard's through pass! But he can't make any kind of contact on his shot! It bounces through to Pletikosa and Heskey goes for in for it! The keeper hangs onto it...
    • 4' Down at the other end, Lampard fires off a free-kick that bounces wide of Pletikosa's upright!
    • 3' Croatia on the front foot straight away... PRANJIC lets fly! It's a smart effort from the edge of the box! But James is well behind it and manages to hang on!

Live Team Line-Up

There is no formation available for this game

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