So England are out too. To be honest, and this is going to sound like a bitter Scotsman (too true), they never deserved to go through on not just tonight’s performance but their performance through out the whole qualifying stages. To be given a second chance by Israel and then blow it tonight on home soil with a real lack of guts and determination is pretty shocking.
McClaren was also pretty surprising. His demeanour was of a man sucked of any confidence or drive. Maybe that’s pressure, the press, the job. For whatever reason, he doesn’t look like a man to lead an international team. Standing with that brolly on the touchline trying to stay dry – nothing wrong with it really but it just sent out the wrong image. I guess it’s bye bye for him.
So no home nations at Euro 2008. Great attempts at qualifying from Northern Ireland and particularly Scotland. Terrible effort from Wales, Rep of Ireland and in particular England though. Room for a home nations tournament next year perhaps? Our footballers haven’t much else to do.
One last thought. Why is the Wembley pitch in such a bad state? For a stadium to cost THAT much money and have THAT bad a playing surface is a disgrace. To blame NFL and concerts is a bit rich. It cut up badly in the FA Cup final and has never looked in any way decent for a stadium with such a proud history.
The final score line of 3-2 was a tad deceiving, 4-1 would have summed up the performance by the England players. 10 mediocre players and Peter Crouch. It was a lucky penalty to get. Crouch’s goal was a brilliant move and excellently finished. The goals England conceded were a bit soft (Carson had a terrible game), but that’s not to say Croatia weren’t dangerous. On the contrary, they always looked the more likely side to score, every single time they got into our final third.
If I was the England manager I would chop the arms off any defender who was stood there like a muppet appealing for offside. A pub squad plays better than that.
Yes, the Wembley pitch looked terrible. A massive disappointment, yet somehow I think Croatia would have played even better than England if the pitch had been up to standard.