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Match No. 846 vs. FYR Macedonia Match No. 848 vs. Netherlands Match Results


England National Football Team Match No. 847

Croatia 2 England 0 [0-0]

Wednesday, 11 October 2006

Match Summary and Report

Match Summary and Report Team Records Croatia Pre-Match England Pre-Match

Match Summary
Status: European Championship 2008 Preliminary Group E qualification match.
Venue: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, capacity 38,923 seats.
Attendance: 38,000
Goals: Croatia - Eduarda da Silva, 61st min.,
Croatia - Gary Neville own goal, 69th min., [backpass eluded Robinson]
Cautions: England - Rio Ferdinand, 20th min., unsporting behaviour;
Croatia - Niko Kovač, 63rd min., unsporting behaviour;
England - Ashley Cole, 77th min., unsporting behaviour; [suspended for next qualifying match]
Expulsions: None.
Officials:
(black)		 Referee - Roberto Rosetti, 39 (18-Sep-1967), Turin, Italy, FIFA-listed 2002;
Assistant referees - Marco Ivaldi, 45 (04-Jul-1961) & Paolo Calcagno, 40 (29-Jan-1966), Italy;
Fourth official - Paolu Bertini, 42 (07-Jul-1964), Italy, FIFA-listed 2003;
Conditions: Kickoff at 7.00 p.m. local time, 6.00 p.m. BST.
Miscellany: -
Statistics:

Type

Croatia

England
Goal Attempts 15 4
Attempts on Target 8 1
Hit Bar/Post 0 0
Corner Kicks Won 6 5
Offside Calls Against 1 5
Fouls Conceded 14 18
Possession 39.9% 60.1%

Croatia Team
Ranking:

24th in FIFA ranking of 13 September 2006; 16th in Elo world ranking before this match and 13th after this match.
Colours: Blue shirts with red & white chequered side panel, blue shorts, blue stockings; made by nike.
Coach: Slaven Bilić, 38, appointed 25 July 2006.
Captain: Niko Kovač.

Croatia Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Pletikosa, Stipe 08-Jan-1979 27 G FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Russia 57 0 1999-active
2-Šimić, Dario 12-Nov-1975 30 D AC Milan SpA, Italy 85 3 1996-active
3-Šimunić, Josip 18-Feb-1979 27 D Hertha Berliner SC, Germany 48 3 2001-active
4-Kovač, Robert 16-Apr-1974 32 D Juventus FC SpA, Italy 61 0 1999-active
5-Ćorluka, Vedran 05-Feb-1986 20 D Nogometni Klub Dinamo Zagreb 4 0 2006-active
14-Modrić, Luka 09-Sep-1985 21 M Nogometni Klub Dinamo Zagreb 11 2 2006-active
7-Rapaić, Milan, sub off 76th min. 16-Aug-1973 33 M Royal Standard de Ličge, Belgium 48 6 1994-active
22-Silva, Eduardo Alves da 25-Feb-1983 23 F Nogometni Klub Dinamo Zagreb 9 3 2004-active
21-Petrić, Mladen 01-Jan-1981 25 F FC Basel 1893, Switzerland 11 5 2001-active
10-Kovač, Niko 15-Oct-1971 34 M Red Bull Salzburg, Austria 65 10 1996-active
19-Kranjčar, Niko, sub off 89th min. 13-Aug-1984 22 M Portsmouth FC, England 28 4 2004-active

Croatia Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
18-Olić, Ivica, sub on 76th min. for Rapaić 14-Sep-1979 27 F PFC Central Sports Club of Army Moscow, Russia 41 6 2002-active
16-Leko, Jerko, sub on 81st min. for da Silva 09-Apr-1980 26 M Association Sportive de
Monaco FC, France		 42 2 2002-active
8-Babić, Marko, sub on 89th min. for Kranjčar 28-Jan-1981 25 M Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball, Germany 39 3 2002-active
Formation:

4-4-2

Pletikosa -
Šimunić, Ćorluka, R Kovač, Šimić -
Rapaić (Olić), Modrić, N Kovač, Kranjčar (Babić) -
Petrić, da Silva (Leko).
Substitutes
Not Used:		 15-Dario Knežević, 17-Ivan Klasnić, 20-Anthony Šerić,  23-Vedran Runje.

England Team
Ranking:

5th in FIFA ranking of 13 September 2006; 6th in Elo world ranking before this match and 7th after this match.
Colours: White shirts with red trim, white shorts, white stockings - The 2005 "home" shirt.
Coach: Steve McClaren, 45, appointed 4 May 2006, took post 1 August 2006, 
5th match, W 3 - D 1 - L 1 - F 10 - A 2.
Captain: John Terry, 5th captaincy.

England Lineup
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
1-Robinson, Paul W. 15-Oct-1979 26 G Tottenham Hotspur FC 31 0 2003-active
2-Neville, Gary A. 18-Feb-1975 31 D Manchester United FC 84 0 1995-active
3-Cole, Ashley 20-Dec-1980 25 D Chelsea FC 56 0 2001-active
4-Carragher, James L.D., sub off 72nd min. 28-Jan-1978 28 D Liverpool FC 31 0 1999-active
5-Ferdinand, Rio G. 07-Nov-1978 27 D Manchester United FC 55 1 1997-active
6-Terry, John G. 07-Dec-1980 25 D Chelsea FC 34 2 2003-active
7-Carrick, Michael 28-Jul-1981 25 M

Manchester United FC

 10 0 2001-active
8-Lampard, Frank J. 20-Jun-1978 28 M

Chelsea FC

 50 12 1999-active
9-Rooney, Wayne M. 24-Oct-1985 20 F

Manchester United FC

 35 11 2003-active
10-Crouch, Peter J., sub off 72nd min. 30-Jan-1981 25 F

Liverpool FC

 16 11 2005-active
11-Parker, Scott M., sub off 72nd min. 13-Oct-1980 25 M Newcastle United FC 3 0 2003-active

England Substitutes
Player Birthdate Age Pos Club App G Career
14-Richardson, Kieran E., sub on 72nd min. for Parker 21-Oct-1984 21 M Manchester United FC 7 2 2005-active
17-Defoe, Jermain C., sub on 72nd min. for Crouch 07-Oct-1982 24 F Tottenham Hotspur FC 21 3 2004-active
16-Wright-Phillips, Shaun C., sub on 72nd min. for Carragher 25-Oct-1981 24 M Chelsea FC 10 1 2004-active
Formation:

3-5-2

Robinson -
Carragher (Wright-Phillips), Terry, Ferdinand -
G Neville, Parker (Richardson), Lampard, Carrick, Cole -
Rooney, Crouch (Defoe).
Notes After 72 minutes, England reverted to the traditional 4-4-2 with the introduction of Richardson and Wright-Phillips.  Cole, though carrying an ankle injury, and Neville, reverted to full-backs.
Substitutes
Not Used:		 12-Phil Neville (injured), 13-Chris Kirkland, 15-Jermain Jenas, 18-Darren Bent.

Match Report

 

Paul Robinson was left embarrassed as England crashed to a dismal defeat against Croatia in the Euro 2008 qualifier in Zagreb.  Eduardo's header had given Croatia a deserved 61st minute lead before keeper Robinson was involved in a nightmare moment eight minutes later.  Gary Neville's back-pass struck a divot as Robinson went to clear, and he watched in agony as the ball rolled in.  Robinson had previously produced a string of saves to keep Croatia at bay.

England coach Steve McClaren's tactical re-shuffle to a 3-5-2 formation was brutally exposed as England barely mounted an attack worthy of the name.  And on the back of a poor performance in the goalless draw against Macedonia at Old Trafford, it left McClaren's supposedly brave new era looking distinctly underwhelming.  England's revamped system produced few serious attacking options in a first 45 minutes in which only the excellence of goalkeeper Robinson kept England on level terms.  He was in action as early as the sixth minute, diving low to save from Eduardo.

Robinson produced a wonderful block to stop England going behind midway through the first half when Niko Kranjcar stole in on Milan Rapaic's cross with a header from only eight yards.  Rapaic was causing real problems for Ashley Cole, and it needed a desperate block from Rio Ferdinand to stop Kranjcar's shot after a cross was only half-cleared.

Croatia continued to dominate after the break, and it needed another fine save from Robinson to keep out Mladen Petric's header.  Wayne Rooney had been quiet again, but he almost broke his lengthy international goal drought with a trademark burst on to Peter Crouch's header, but he shot over the bar.  Croatia deserved to be ahead, and they finally broke the deadlock after 61 minutes, when the diminutive Eduardo rose easily above the disappointing Cole to head home Niko Kovac's long cross.  And Croatia doubled their lead in farcical fashion after 69 minutes in a remarkable incident involving the previously outstanding Robinson.  Robinson moved to clear Neville's back-pass, but the ball hit a divot on the six-yard line and bobbled embarrassingly over his foot.

The desperate McClaren then made a triple change, sending on Jermain Defoe, Kieran Richardson and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Crouch, Scott Parker and Jamie Carragher.  It was a clear sign of just how poor England had been - and McClaren's game-plan will rightly attract a torrent of criticism.

Source Notes

 

Sources

Reuters
Hns-cff.hr
UEFA.com
World Stadiums
TheFA.com

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CG