Croatia send England crashing
Chris O'Keefe
A 25-yard shot from Mladen Petric finished off an erratic England campaign to qualify for the European Championships, this despite England coming back from two goals down to level the game 25 minutes from the end.
In truth, it was a flattering come back for an England so lacking in clear direction and structure during the first half Croatia picked the home side off at ease. The final whistle was met with a chorus of boos from a packed Wembley. Steve McLaren refused to be drawn on his future in post match interviews.
For a side needing only a point, England made the worst possible start with two goals inside the first 15 minutes. The first was a disaster for new goalkeeper Scott Carson. The 22-year-old Liverpool keeper was at fault for letting a Niko Kranjcar shot through his body and into the net. It was an embarrassing mistake from a player drafted in to replace the hapless Paul Robinson.
It got worse when English attempts to play Ivica Olic offside were hopelessly measured and Olic slipped around Carson to put Croatia two up for only two attacks. Well, at least they had some worthwhile attacks! England's attacking output was poor. Peter Crouch was given little service in the first half, yet he continued to give everything for the cause. He was arguably the only England deserving an honourable mention!
However, half-time brought a change of personnel and formation. The David Beckham circus was allowed to get into tune. In fairness to Beckham, he posed a greater problem to Croatia than the sum of England's previous service and it showed in both goals. The first was manner from heaven thanks to an eagle-eyed linesman spotting a tug on Jermain Defoe's shirt. Frank Lampard's penalty was a good finish. However, it may be damning of Lampard's display that it was practically Lampard's first meaningful touch in the game. He was largely anonymous!
That said he wasn't the only one! Any of the England midfield could be labelled in the same way. The defence was little better as Croatia seemed to be at ease with the ball. The second came from a great ball supplied by Beckham. Peter Crouch took the ball down brilliantly and finished with aplomb, his 14th goal in 24 games! Suddenly, in a game that England were largely a distant second, parity had been restored and just 25 minutes from qualification.
Then the inevitable. The ball fell to Mladen Petric on the edge of the England box and simple set and shot left Carson seeing the ball late and England were behind again, this time indefinitely!
Only a chance from Darren Bent threatened any sort of reposte. His shot was high and wide as were England's hopes of qualification. The final whistle went and the shock was clear to see on the faces of English players. Steve McLaren was long since herded down the tunnel. His fate will likely be sewn by the FA tomorrow and a reprieve looks unlikely. "Second choice Steve" as labelled by The Guardian's Fiver column is likely to be given the boot and the search (and the speculation) will begin.
A 25-yard shot from Mladen Petric finished off an erratic England campaign to qualify for the European Championships, this despite England coming back from two goals down to level the game 25 minutes from the end.
In truth, it was a flattering come back for an England so lacking in clear direction and structure during the first half Croatia picked the home side off at ease. The final whistle was met with a chorus of boos from a packed Wembley. Steve McLaren refused to be drawn on his future in post match interviews.
For a side needing only a point, England made the worst possible start with two goals inside the first 15 minutes. The first was a disaster for new goalkeeper Scott Carson. The 22-year-old Liverpool keeper was at fault for letting a Niko Kranjcar shot through his body and into the net. It was an embarrassing mistake from a player drafted in to replace the hapless Paul Robinson.
It got worse when English attempts to play Ivica Olic offside were hopelessly measured and Olic slipped around Carson to put Croatia two up for only two attacks. Well, at least they had some worthwhile attacks! England's attacking output was poor. Peter Crouch was given little service in the first half, yet he continued to give everything for the cause. He was arguably the only England deserving an honourable mention!
However, half-time brought a change of personnel and formation. The David Beckham circus was allowed to get into tune. In fairness to Beckham, he posed a greater problem to Croatia than the sum of England's previous service and it showed in both goals. The first was manner from heaven thanks to an eagle-eyed linesman spotting a tug on Jermain Defoe's shirt. Frank Lampard's penalty was a good finish. However, it may be damning of Lampard's display that it was practically Lampard's first meaningful touch in the game. He was largely anonymous!
That said he wasn't the only one! Any of the England midfield could be labelled in the same way. The defence was little better as Croatia seemed to be at ease with the ball. The second came from a great ball supplied by Beckham. Peter Crouch took the ball down brilliantly and finished with aplomb, his 14th goal in 24 games! Suddenly, in a game that England were largely a distant second, parity had been restored and just 25 minutes from qualification.
Then the inevitable. The ball fell to Mladen Petric on the edge of the England box and simple set and shot left Carson seeing the ball late and England were behind again, this time indefinitely!
Only a chance from Darren Bent threatened any sort of reposte. His shot was high and wide as were England's hopes of qualification. The final whistle went and the shock was clear to see on the faces of English players. Steve McLaren was long since herded down the tunnel. His fate will likely be sewn by the FA tomorrow and a reprieve looks unlikely. "Second choice Steve" as labelled by The Guardian's Fiver column is likely to be given the boot and the search (and the speculation) will begin.
Photo from BBC Sport (http:news.bbc.co.uk/sport)
posted by C O'K @ 10:20 pm
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