England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after losing a sensational game against Croatia at Wembley.

[gagquin]

England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after losing a sensational game against Croatia at Wembley.

.

A tearful David Beckham applauds the crowd at the end of the game

By Jonathan Stevenson

England went 2-0 down when Scott Carson, in for Paul Robinson, helped Nico Kranjcar's shot

into the net and then Ivica Olic slipped in a second.

Frank Lampard pulled one back from the spot after Jermain Defoe was fouled, before

David Beckham, winning a 99th cap, set up Peter Crouch to level it.

But Mladen Petric fired in from 25 yards to break England's hearts.

The result will surely cost Steve McClaren his job as England manager and after such an abysmal display,

he can have few complaints. He gambled his position and England's participation on two huge selections and

dropping Robinson and Beckham proved catastrophic. Carson's performance will live long in the memory for

all the wrong reasons and it may take the 22-year-old some time to recover.

When he stepped out on to the turf to warm-up and saw heavy rain making the pitch increasingly treacherous,

he could have been forgiven for wishing Robinson - who was not even on the bench - had not been so unceremoniously

dumped. With eight minutes gone, he must have wanted part of the rain-sodden pitch to open up and swallow him whole.

Kranjcar found space 30 yards out and let fly with a dipping right-foot shot that bounced just in front of the keeper and

Carson could only parry the ball into the roof of the net.

The stadium fell silent - and six minutes later, England's world was on the brink of collapse.

Eduardo drove at the heart of the England defence and played a cute pass into the area for Olic, the Hamburg striker

coolly dribbling round a shell-shocked Carson and rolling into an empty net.

England embarrassingly appealed for offside, but Wayne Bridge and, ludicrously, Shaun Wright-Phillips - who should

not have been that far back - were both clearly playing him on.

McClaren's 4-3-3 formation at the start had turned into a 4-5-1 as Crouch was left painfully isolated in attack and his

flick-ons were easily dealt with by the Croatians.

The visitors could have been more than 2-0 up by the interval - Carson patting the ball down after a shot from Luka

Modric only for the ball to luckily skid away, forcing Kranjcar too wide to shoot.

Booed and jeered off the pitch, McClaren had to act and he brought on Defoe and Beckham, with Gareth Barry and

Wright-Phillips making way.

It barely made any difference, before England were handed a lifeline in the shape of a penalty by the eagle-eyed

assistant referee, who spotted Josip Simunic tugging back Defoe. The quiet Lampard, with almost his first kick of t

he game, clinically dispatched the spot-kick to breathe new life into England's campaign.

England seemed keen to gift Croatia another goal as first Bridge cleared on to the top of his own crossbar and then

Carson repaired some of the damage by brilliantly saving Olic's point-blank header. If the script had been written for

Beckham to save his country once again, the former captain seemed keen to follow it.

The LA Galaxy midfielder sent over an inch-perfect cross from the right that Crouch expertly chested down and smashed

into the bottom corner from seven yards.

Wembley erupted, but there was more drama to come on a remarkable night at the new stadium.

Croatia sent on Petric and with 13 minutes left, he arrowed a fizzing left-foot shot into the corner of Carson's net from 25 yards.

It was what Croatia deserved for a display full of enterprise and heart - and what England deserved for one of their most inept

displays in living memory.

The result, coupled with Russia's slender 1-0 win over Andorra, means England will not be going to next summer's tournament

in Austria and Switzerland.

+info@

[marke68]

:D Have to say that being scottish by birth it was probably the funniest 2 hours i've had in years,couldn't have happened to nicer bunch of overpaid prima donnas to think these jokers created football..

bwahahahaha :D :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Atasas]

"Andrex league"... soft and very unnecerely expensive :)

[marke68]

"Andrex league"... soft and very unnecerely expensive :pope:

:) Too true mate i used to go watch west ham for years but over the last 10 years i've been priced out of the game,it seems to me the premier league has become totally corporate.

:D Your andrex reference is spot on as i always thought football was supposed to be a contact sport,now you only have to look at a player the wrong way and they fall like they've been hit by an rpg..... :D

[dMog]

"Andrex league"... soft and very unnecerely expensive :pope:

:) Too true mate i used to go watch west ham for years but over the last 10 years i've been priced out of the game,it seems to me the premier league has become totally corporate.

:lol: Your andrex reference is spot on as i always thought football was supposed to be a contact sport,now you only have to look at a player the wrong way and they fall like they've been hit by an rpg..... :pos:

It does not matter how much they all get paid if they cannot play as a team....but mostly i think the rest of the world now plays a totally different style of soccer and England has yet to see that they need to change ...they do have talent that can win, they just need new blood at the coaching and manager spots....yes i know your saying... what does a Canadian know about soccer.....but do think my statement has merit

[kow]

As an Englishman, I can't help feel that the result was the right one, over the last 10 years English football has turned away from it's roots and become a business, much to the detriment of the true fans. It's now become another event on the social calendar for the middle classes. As much as I'd like the result against Croatia to change things in the English, I can't see it happening, as there's just too much money to be made.

@marke68: Are Scotland gonna be there?:o

[dMog]

As an Englishman, I can't help feel that the result was the right one, over the last 10 years English football has turned away from it's roots and become a business, much to the detriment of the true fans. It's now become another event on the social calendar for the middle classes. As much as I'd like the result against Croatia to change things in the English, I can't see it happening, as there's just too much money to be made.

@marke68: Are Scotland gonna be there?:(

Yes ...too bad the days are gone where sports was just that...sports...now it is a business first, a way to get rich and famous secondly and i truly believe it is a "sport" 4th or 5th down the line... But that being said am i wrong is saying that the teams that have won the championships in ANY sport then and now are the teams that can play as a team and also as team for the most part have tremendous respect for each other not only on the field of play but also off it.

[dock98]

its not too late to study hard