England 2-3 Croatia
Wednesday, 21 November, 2007
Croatia win at Wembley by 3-2 following a nail biting second half. See how it unfolded right here.
England 2-3 Croatia
UEFA European Championship Qualifier
8pm, Wednesday 21 November 2007
Wembley Stadium
Live on BBC1
90'+3' The referee signals full time with the final whistle.
90' Three minutes of added time is indicated by the fourth official, as England force two successive corner kicks.
88' Carson saves a shot from Darijo Srna, who was picked out on the overlap by Rakitic.
85' Bent managed to wriggle clear of the last defender, but whilst off balance, sees his left footed shot land on the roof of the net.
83' Ivan Rakitic is on for Ivica Olic.
79' Darren Bent is introduced to replace Joe Cole, as England go in search of an equaliser.
77' GOAL! Croatia take the lead again when Petric nets with an angled left footed shot from the corner of the box after a patient build-up.
74' Daniel Pranjic is brought on in place of Niko Kranjcar.
68' Mladen Petric comes on to replace Da Silva up front for Croatia.
65' GOAL! England are level, when Beckham's right wing cross picks out Crouch in the box. The Liverpool man controls with his chest before firing home into the bottom corner.
62' Carson makes a good stop to save Olic's low shot, following a slip by Bridge as Croatia hit England on the counter attack.
58' Carson makes a fine reaction save to deny Ivica Olic, who headed goalwards from close range from the resulting corner kick.
58' Wayne Bridge almost scores an own goal in trying to clear under pressure, but sees his clearance hit the bar.
56' GOAL! England are back in it through a Frank Lampard penalty, following a foul on Defoe by Josip Simunic in the area.
52' A combination of Sol Campbell and Scott Carson sees Eduardo Da Silva's shot blocked, after the striker had broken clear of the defence.
50' Crouch is felled on the edge of the area for a free-kick, which Beckham saw deflected wide for a corner.
46' England start the second half brightly, with Beckham's cross from the right headed clear by the Croatian defence.
46' McClaren has made two changes - Jermain Defoe and David Beckham for Shaun Wright-Phillips and Gareth Barry.
45'+1' The referee brings the first half to an end with the rain easing, but England still trailing to two early goals from their Croatian opponents.
44' Joe Cole wins a free kick on the left flank, Gerrard fires the ball into the box and Micah Richards gets there first only to see his header drift narrowly wide.
41' Croatia make a bold counter attack but thanks to some stubborn defending they are unable to find an opening and fire a lofted ball over the bar.
37' Micah Richards chases a lost cause deep in the Croatian half and looks like he has won a corner only to be adjudged to have fouled Simunic.
33' Wright-Phillips wins a free kick deep in the Croatian half, Gareth Barry whips the ball into the box but Pletikosa rises highest to punch the ball clear.
30' Micah Richards wins a storming tackle but the ball runs through to Wright-Phillips in an offside position and Croatia are able to clear their lines.
25' Steven Gerrard wins a fine tackle to wrest posession back for England before setting Gareth Barry and Wayne Bridge off on an attack down the left flank.
22' Peter Crouch rises highest in the box to nod the ball down for Joe Cole but the ball skips off the wet surface to find the grateful hands of Stipe Pletikosa.
16' Joe Cole crosses the ball from the left flank looking for Wright-Phillips, the ball gets cleared and Robert Kovac sets Croatia off on a counter attack.
14' GOAL! Ivica Olic beats the offside trap and rounds Scott Carson to give Croatia a sensational two goal lead after barely a quarter of an hour.
12' Micah Richards bursts through having been found by Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right flank. He crosses the ball to Peter Crouch but Kovac gets there first.
8' GOAL! Niko Kranjcar hits a powerful shot that escapes the grasp of Scott Carson and bounces into the top corner - a terrible start for England.
5' Joe Cole stoops low and no doubt gets his shirt a little wet to head a Steven Gerrard cross.
4' Gareth Barry loses the ball in the Croatian half and is penalised by the referee for tripping Niko Kovac.
3' Shaun Wright-Phillips is held up after finding some space on the right flank. Gareth Barry offers an outlet before finding Joe Cole, but Corluka robs him of posession.
2' The pitch is looking slick and the early passes are crisp as both sides look to get an early grip on proceedings.
1' England kick off at Wembley with the rain teeming down, it's the final qualifier of the Euro 2008 campaign - the Three Lions need a draw and they're through.
Teams:
England: 1 Scott Carson, 2 Micah Richards, 3 Wayne Bridge, 4 Steven Gerrard (c), 5 Joleon Lescott, 6 Sol Campbell, 7 Gareth Barry, 8 Frank Lampard, 9 Peter Crouch, 10 Shaun Wright-Phillips, 11 Joe Cole
Substitutes: 12 Ashley Cole, 13 David James, 14 Wes Brown, 15 Owen Hargreaves, 16 Jermain Defoe, 17 David Beckham, 18 Darren Bent
Croatia (from): Mario Galinovic, Stipe Pletikosa, Vedran Runje, Vedran Corluka, Dino Drpic, Dario Kenezevic, Robert Kovac, Dario Simic, Josip Simunic, Hrvoje Vejic, Marko Babic, Niko Kovac, Niko Kranjcar, Jerko Leko, Luka Modric, Danijel Pranjic, Darijo Srna, Jurica Vranjes, Ognjen Vukojevic, Nikola Kalinic, Ivica Olic, Mladen Petric, Ivan Rakitic, Eduardo Da Silva
Kit colours:
England
White shirts, white shorts, white socks
Goalkeeper: Aubergine shirt, aubergine shorts, aubergine socks
Croatia
Blue shirts, blue shorts, blue socks
Goalkeeper: Yellow or green tbc
Match officials
Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden)
Referee's assistants: Stefan Wittberg (Sweden) & Kenneth Petersson (Sweden)
Fourth Official: Martin Ingvarsson (Sweden)