UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
6pm, Wednesday 11 October 2006
Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb
England suffered a major disappointment here in Zagreb as they were beaten 2-0 by Croatia.
A cruel own goal from Gary Neville and a looping header from Eduardo Da Silva saw the Three Lions lose for the first time under new Head Coach Steve McClaren.
It was a bitter blow for the team, who were hoping to become the first side in 12 years to beat Croatia in a competitive game on their home patch.
But it soon became clear exactly why the Croatians have such a remarkable record as they put the Three Lions under intense pressure.
England goalkeeper Paul Robinson made three superb saves to keep his side in the game before Croatia struck, and he continued his heroics even after the home side extended their lead.
Robinson was trying to match Gordon Banks’ record of seven clean sheets in a row and for a while it seemed as though he was going to achieve that aim.
He produced a superb close-range reaction save from Niko Kranjcar after winger Milan Rapaic had whipped in a fine cross after 26 minutes. Then he added an equally good stop to beat out a long-range effort from the same player a few minutes later.
That was enough to send England into the break at 0-0 and seconds into the second half Robinson used both hands to keep out a close-range header from Mladen Petric.
England were working hard to master a new 3-5-2 formation, with Scott Parker handed his full debut in midfield, but things became increasingly difficult as the home side grew in confidence.
McClaren fielded Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher and John Terry in a three-man defence with Ashley Cole and Gary Neville as wing-backs.
There were some good signs early on for the Three Lions when they passed the ball well in midfield. But they found it difficult to create clear-cut chances and were not given time to adjust to their new system as Croatia piled forward.
England’s only real chance of the first half fell to Frank Lampard, who ran onto a superb pass from Wayne Rooney but dug his shot over the bar.
Rooney then burst past his marker after the break to blast an effort narrowly over the crossbar, but the night soon went from bad to worse.
First, Croatia took the lead after 60 minutes with a looping header from Da Silva, under challenge from Ashley Cole, that left Robinson helpless.
Then the home side made it 2-0 eight minutes later when Neville’s back-pass hit a divot on the pitch and ended up bobbling over Robinson’s leg and into the net.
McClaren reacted by bringing on Kieran Richardson, Jerrmain Defoe and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Peter Crouch, Parker and Jamie Carragher.
But with Ashley Cole booked - which means he will miss the next match against Israel - nothing was going England's way.
The night had started with an injury to Phil Neville in the warm-up which meant he wasn't able to take his place amongst the substitutes. And in truth it didn't get much better as despite having good spells of possession England struggled to find a foothold in the game.
The only consolation for McClaren and his men is that the group is is still wide open - and there is still plenty of time to qualify for Euro 2008.
England: 1 Paul Robinson, 2 Gary Neville, 3 Ashley Cole, 4 Jamie Carragher (Shaun Wright-Phillips 72), 5 Rio Ferdinand, 6 John Terry (c), 7 Michael Carrick, 8 Frank Lampard, 9 Wayne Rooney, 10 Peter Crouch (Jermain Defoe 72), 11 Scott Parker (Kieran Richardson 72)
Subs not used: Phil Neville, Chris Kirkland, Jermaine Jenas, Darren Bent
Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa; Dario Simic, Josip Simunic, Robert Kovac, Vedran Corluka, Milan Rapaic (Ivica Olic 72), Niko Kovac (c), Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar (Marko Babic 89), Mladen Petric, Eduardo Da Silva (Jerko Leko 81)
Subs not used: Vedran Runje, Dario Knezevic, Ivan Klasnic, Anthony Seric
Match Officials:
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (all Italy)
Assistant referees: Marco Ivaldi, Paolo Calcogno
Fourth official: Paolo Bertini
Kit Colours:
Croatia: Blue Shirts, Blue shorts, blue socks (GK Green)
England: White shirts, white shorts, white socks (GK Yellow)