|
UK
Casino Times
> Casino
News
11 October 2006
Croatia 2-0 England
Paul Robinson was left
embarrassed as England crashed to a dismal defeat against
Crotia in the Euro 2008 qualifier in Zagreb.
Eduardo's header had given
Croatia a deserved 61st minute lead before keeper Robinson
was involved in a nightmare moment eight minutes
later.
Gary Neville's back-pass
struck a divot as Robinson went to clear, and he watched in
agony as the ball rolled in.
Robinson had previously
produced a string of saves to keep Crotia at bay.
England coach Steve
McClaren's tactical re-shuffle to a 3-5-2 formation was
brutally exposed as England barely mounted an attack worthy
of the name.
And on the back of a poor
performance in the goalless draw against Macedonia at Old
Trafford, it left McClaren's supposedly brave new era
looking distinctly underwhelming.
England's revamped system
produced few serious attacking options in a first 45 minutes
in which only the excellence of goalkeeper Robinson kept
England on level terms.
He was in action as early
as the sixth minute, diving low to save from
Eduardo.
Robinson produced a
wonderful block to stop England going behind midway through
the first half when Niko Kranjcar stole in on Milan Rapaic's
cross with a header from only eight yards.
Rapaic was causing real
problems for Ashley Cole, and it needed a desperate block
from Rio Ferdinand to stop Kranjcar's shot after a cross was
only half-cleared.
Croatia continued to
dominate after the break, and it needed another fine save
from Robinson to save from Mladen Petric's
header.
Wayne Rooney had been
quiet again, but he almost broke his lengthy international
goal drought with a trademark burst on to Peter Crouch's
header, but he shot over the bar.
Croatia deserved to be
ahead, and they finally broke the deadlock after 61 minutes,
when the diminutive Eduardo rose easily above the
disappointing Cole to head home Niko Kovac's long
cross.
And Croatia doubled their
lead in farcical fashion after 69 minutes in a remarkable
incident involving the previously outstanding
Robinson.
Robinson moved to clear
Neville's back-pass, but the ball hit a divot on the
six-yard line and bobbled embarrassingly over his
foot.
The desperate McClaren
then made a triple change, sending on Jermain Defoe, Kieran
Richardson and Shaun Wright-Phillips for Crouch, Scott
Parker and Jamie Carragher.
It was a clear sign of
just how poor England had been - and McClaren's game-plan
will rightly attract a torrent of criticism.
Related pages:
None
Also see:
UK
Online Casinos
Reviews of the leading, approved UK online casinos. Includes
details of the free money welcome bonuses offered to new
players by the online casinos.
Online
Casinos Guide
New to online casinos? We take you through the process in a
friendly, easy-going way.
CasinoTimes.co.uk
is updated every day with the latest online casino and
gambling news.
Click
Here
to bookmark us and check us out daily!
Return
to UK Casino News index
|
