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Wednesday, 11 October 2006
2008 UEFA European Championship Group E qualification match

Croatia 2 England 0 [0-0]

 

Stadion Maksimir, Maksimir, Zagreb
Attendance:
38,000; Kick-off: 7.00pm CET, 6.00pm BST;
Live on Sky Sports One (UK) - Commentator: Martin Tyler

Croatia - Eduardo (twelve-yard looping header 60 59:29), Gary Neville (own goal from backpass that Robinson failed to collect 68 67:46). Match Summary
Croatia Squad

England Squad
Results 2005-2010 England - Rio Ferdinand (20), Ashley Cole (77),
Croatia - Niko Kovač (63).

England kicked-off. 93 minutes (45 & 48).

 

Match Summary

Officials from Italy

Croatia     

       

Type

England
     
     
     
     
Referee (black) - Roberto Rosetti
39 (18 September 1967), Turin, FIFA-listed 2002;

Assistant Referees - Marco Ivaldi, 45 (4 July 1961) and Paolo Calcagno, 40 (29 January 1966).

Fourth official - Paolo Bertini, 42 (7 July 1964), Arezzo, FIFA-listed 2003;

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

Croatia Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (13th Sept 2006) 24th
EFO ranking Group 5

ELO rating 16th to 13th
Colours: Made by Nike - Blue crew neck jeresys with red & white chequered vertical stripe behind crest, blue shorts, blue socks with white tops.
Capt: Niko Kovač Manager: Slaven Bilić, 38 (11 September 1968), appointed 25 July 2006.
4th match, W 3 - D 1 - L 0 - F 11 - A 0.
Croatia Lineup
1 Pletikosa, Stipe 27 8 January 1979 G FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine 57 0
2 Šimić, Dario 30 12 November 1975 LB AC Milan, Italy 85 3
3 Šimunić, Josip 28 18 February 1978
born in Australia
RB Hertha, Berliner SC von 1892, Germany 48 3
4 Kovač, Robert 32 16 April 1974
born in West Germany
CD Juventus FC, Italy 61 0
5 Ćorluka, Vedran 20 5 February 1986 CD NK Dinamo Zagreb 4 0
14 Modrić, Luka 21 9 September 1985 CM NK Dinamo Zagreb 11 2
7 Rapaić, Milan, off 76th min. 33 16 August 1973 RM Royal Standard de Liège, Belgium 48 6
22 da Silva, Eduardo A., off 81st min. 23 25 February 1983
born in Brazil
F NK Dinamo Zagreb 9 3
21 Petrić, Mladen 25 1 January 1981 F FC Basel 1893, Switzerland 11 5
10 Kovač, Niko 34 15 October 1971
born in West Germany
CM Red Bull Salzburg, Austria 65 10
Kovač cautioned in the 63rd min. for Unsporting Behaviour, for a foul on Crouch.
19 Kranjčar, Niko, off 89th min. 22 13 August 1984 LM Portsmouth FC, England 28 4
Croatia Substitutes
scoreline: Croatia 2 England 0
18 Olić, Ivića, on 76th min. for Rapaić 27 14 September 1979 F PFC Central Sports Club of Army, Moskva, Russia 41 6
16 Leko, Jerko, on 81st min. for da Silva 26 9 April 1980 M AS de Monaco FC, France 42 2
8 Babić, Marko, on 89th min. for Kranjčar 25 28 January 1981 M Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Germany 39 3
result: Croatia 2 England 0
unused substitutes: 15-Dario Knezević, 17-Ivan Klasnić, 20-Anthony Šerić, 23-Vedran Runje.
Coach Slaven Bilić played for Croatia against England in April 1996.
   

4-4-2

Pletikosa -
Šimunić, Ćorluka,
R.Kovač, Šimić -
Rapaić
(Olić), Modrić, N.Kovač, Kranjčar (Babić) -
Petrić, Eduardo
(Leko).

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 26.8 Appearances/Goals 38.8 3.3

 

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (13th Sept 2006) 5th
EFO ranking Group 2

ELO rating 6th to 7th
Colours: The 2005 home shirt - White collared jerseys with large red cross on right shoulder, white shorts with thin white narrowing stripe on right thigh and red hem, white socks with navy blue half-striped tops.
Capt: John Terry, fifth captaincy Head Coach: Stephen McClaren, 45 (3 May 1961), appointed Head Coach 4 May 2006, took post 1 August 2006, 
5th match, W 3 - D 1 - L 1 - F 10 - A 2.
England Lineup
1 Robinson, Paul W. 26 15 October 1979 G Tottenham Hotspur FC 31 16 GA
2 Neville, Gary A. 31 18 February 1975 RB Manchester United FC 84 ¹
the 24th own goal scored by England
     
3 Cole, Ashley 25 20 December 1980 LB Chelsea FC 56 0
77th min. for a foul. Suspended.
     
4 Carragher, James L.D., off 72nd min. 28 28 January 1978 CM Liverpool FC 31 0
5 Ferdinand, Rio G. 27 7 November 1978 CM Manchester United FC 55 0
20th min. for a foul on Petrić.
     
6 Terry, John G. 25 7 December 1980 CD Chelsea FC 34 2
7 Carrick, Michael 25 28 July 1981 LM

Manchester United FC

10 0
8 Lampard, Frank J. 28 20 June 1978 CM

Chelsea FC

50 11
9 Rooney, Wayne M. 20 24 October 1985 F

Manchester United FC

35 10
10 Crouch, Peter J., off 72nd min. 25 30 January 1981 F

Liverpool FC

16 11
11 Parker, Scott M., off 72nd min. 25 13 October 1980 RM Newcastle United FC 3 0
England Substitutes
scoreline: Croatia 2 England 0
14 Richardson, Kieran E., on 72nd min. for Parker 21 21 October 1984 M Manchester United FC 7 2
17 Defoe, Jermain C., on 72nd min. for Crouch 24 7 October 1982 F Tottenham Hotspur FC 21 3
16 Wright-Phillips, Shaun C., on 72nd min. for Carragher 24 25 October 1981 M Chelsea FC 10 1
result: Croatia 2 England 0
unused substitutes: 12-Phil Neville (hamstring injury in the pre-match warm-up), 13-Chris Kirkland, 15-Jermain Jenas, 18-Darren Bent.
team notes: Gary Neville and injured substitute, Phil, are brothers.
   

3-5-2

Robinson -
Neville, Terry, Cole -
Parker
(Richardson), Carragher (Wright-Phillips), Ferdinand, Lampard, Carrick -
Rooney, Crouch
(Defoe).
After 72 minutes, England reverted to the traditional 4-4-2 with the introduction of Richardson and Wright-Phillips.  Cole, carrying an ankle injury, and Neville, reverted to full-backs.

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 25.9 Appearances/Goals 36.8 3.4

 

    Match Report (Mike Payne's exclusive report coming shortly)

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. - BBC Sport

Source Notes

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

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CG

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