Antioch Agent

VS

Result: England 2 – Croatia 3. Ouch. The English could not capitalize on the mini-miracle (by footballing standards) at Israel and are now effectively out of Euro ’08, with the Russian coach Guus Hiddink having the last laugh. It was a thrilling encounter that took the fans though a roller coaster of emotions. I have been one for years, and somehow this was not a result that would shock me or any other football enthusiast.. so let’s just say we had advanced warnings.

It was always going to be a tough outing against the hard battling Croatians. Home advantage really didn’t count for much as the the fans could hardly be counted upon to support the team through the good and bad times. The boo-boys kept quiet for a little while, but bad habits are hard to die as would prove to be the case later. Also, with a Wembley Stadium pitch that looked as good as Batu Kawan, it didn’t promise a night of smooth passing and flowing football. The players missing from the starting line-up were noticeably in the areas of attack and defense. Missing mainly due to untimely injuries, the likes of Owen, Rooney, Heskey (who combined real well with Owen), Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole clearly were to be felt as England knew they were going to suffer in both departments. It was inevitable that the striking duties fell to the bean pole striker Crouch (last man standing) whose international goal scoring record has been impressive. The midfield however had no excuses with in form and top quality players able to take to the field like Hargreaves (they should have played him), Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Philips and a partially match fit David Beckham.

The Croatians got off to a flying start when their first goal was a gifted howler by the deputy Scott Carson in the 8th minute. Failing to deal with what was most surely a speculative effort from way out of the box, it signaled things of which to come at the England back. It wasn’t soon after that initial deflation that the defense was punctured by some neat little work by Croatia in beating the offside trap. Wayne Bridge was the culprit in breaking the defensive line as he aimlessly tracked into empty space to put the feisty Olic onside. He made no mistakes and coolly slotted in the second. The left back was tormented for the whole evening and today’s performance must certainly spell doom to his international career. Even though down by two, England showed the lack of invention and urgency which has typified much of the past 11 games of their campaign, only managing a couple of unconvincing attacks that lacked any bite. Instead of trying to work the ball, the usual long ball was employed which only compounded the frustration of the increasingly agitated fans. They had already showed a measure of restrain by waiting till the half time whistle to begin their usual customary booing. On the other end, the traveling Croatian fans were on song.

To his credit, the under fire manager McLaren introduced Jermain Defoe and Beckham after the half time break. This offered England a brighter hope of recovery as immediately their contributions were felt. Soon after coming on, Defoe was adjudged to be fouled by the slightest of tugs of his jersey in the box. Lampard, who had the quietest of games stepped up to the spot and made no mistake of sending the keeper the wrong way. The whole team rallied behind the boost in morale and it wasn’t long before England drew level courtesy of their talismanic former captain. Beckham’s amazing eye caught Crouch’s run into the box and his beautiful pin point cross was equally matched by the striker taking it down on his chest and volleying it past the helpless keeper. Would this be a fairy tale “mother of all comebacks” on the script? Needing to maintain the level score, England now had a one foot in the 2008 championship.

Unfortunately, that was where all the positives stopped and the wheels on the wagon started to fall off. England were guilty of losing possession easily in midfield and their attacking impetus suddenly disappeared. Control of the ball was given back too cheaply to Croatia as they decided to sit back and absorb the pressure. It was not long before English defensive frailties were shown being subject to the unrelenting pressure of a team that had nothing really to play for having already comfortably qualified as Group E leaders. When the ball left Mladen Petric foot and headed towards the goal, time almost stood still. The grunts and disbelieving gazes were all across the Wembley and people behind the telly. The aging Sol Campbell watched in dismay as the ball he failed to block slipped past the reach of the keeper in a last ditch attempted save. It spelled disaster as England’s confidence were torn to shreds and Croats saw out the match comfortably. Tactically and mentally outclassed for this encounter they went down tamely after that having no more answers.

The match ending 3-2 surely signals an end to the short reign of Steve McLaren who will almost certainly rue his missed opportunities of sealing victories against lesser illustrious opponents like Andorra, Macedonia and Israel. 12 games played: 7 victories, 2 draws and 3 losses. I pity the chap having had so many issues with team selection and injury to the players, but many would question his tactics and be very unforgiving in these circumstances. Football is almost the life blood of the nation, it’s even religion. The players too have to shoulder the blame, but undoubtedly the scape goat will be the manager. With Hiddink’s Russia edging England by a single point to emerge second in the table, football is indeed a game of fine margins.

The highs from the game came from Beckham and Crouch. Beckham’s impact to the team was clearly put on display today and it only continued to confirm his status as one of the best in the business when it comes to deadly crosses. Before his introduction, England never looked to have a ghost of a chance of scoring. It was a mighty shame they didn’t get the ball to him enough after the equalizer, he could have provided much more options to the attack. Crouch’s worked tirelessly for 90 minutes and was rewarded with a goal in the bag that counted for little in the end. We shouldn’t pour too much scorn on the team, after all football is at the end of the day…. just football. Some charitability and sportsmanship should prevail, don’t flay them. Just be good sports, replace the manager, reshuffle the team, develop a better game plan that suits the English style of play and then go out there and try better the next time around.

Personally, being a fan of the under achieving England is still great fun. One thing’s for sure, the build up to the games are so much more fun with all the press coverage and for the fact that I’m familiar with the players add to my reasons for sticking to support them. Now they are left licking their wounds and watching Euro 2008 on the telly just like the rest of us.

Interestingly, not a single United player featured on the field. Perhaps that’s a strong reason for the loss. 😉