McClaren: 'We'll be OK'
Thursday, 12 October, 2006
Steve McClaren says England will still qualify for Euro 2008 despite suffering his first loss as Head Coach.
Croatia 2-0 England
UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
6pm, Wednesday 11 October 2006
Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb
Croatia 2-0 England Archive Details - Click Here
Steve McClaren has insisted that the England management and players will stick together and turn around their Euro 2008 fortunes.
After the defeat in Croatia, he said: "There are a lot of games left to play, and although we've had two disappointing games, we'll move on. There are lot of points still to play for and we'll be OK.
"We have to stick together and turn it around."
McClaren was pleased with the way his side started in Zagreb but admitted that overall he was disappointed with the result.
He said: "Croatia are a very good team who are unbeaten at home for 12 years, so we knew it was going to be a difficult game.
"A lot of things didn't go our way. We conceded a disappointing first goal, but the second goal was so unlucky with the bobble. And it was very harsh on Paul Robinson who was magnificent throughout.
"We tried to get the balance right, but it didn't work. We're very, very disappointed, but there is a long way to go. We play Croatia at home last in the group and let's hope we can reverse the scoreline."
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)
