The Mid-week Review

by Danny Wright
England will not be going to Euro 2008. In a poor, passionless display, they were defeated by a very good Croatia side, 3-2 the final score at Wembley. Scott Carson and England endured a nightmare start when a bobbling shot from Portsmouth’s Nico Kranjcar deceived the Aston Villa keeper and crept into the net to give the Croats a shock lead. The game had barely restarted before Slaven Billic's men had added a second, Ivica Olic rounding Carson to punish some slack English defending.

England were tossed a lifeline when substitute Jermaine Defoe won a second half penalty, Josip Simunic flagged up for a pull on Tottenham man, with Frank Lampard holding his nerve to make it 2-1. David Beckham then set up Peter Crouch for a tremendous equalizer, the lanky striker bringing the ball down expertly and tucking home a great cross from the former captain. The game then opened up as Carson twice foiled Croaita with smart saves and England pressed, but it wasn't enough as Mladen Petric fired home a 25-year shot to make it 3-2, England's hopes well and truly over.

As the nation mourns there is one thing to come good of Wednesday's game - Steve McClaren's imminent resignation/unceremonious sacking.

None of the home nations will be going to next summer's European Championships as Northern Ireland were defeated by Spain to end their slim hopes. Nigel Worthington's men needed to win and hope Latvia defeated Sweden in Stockholm; however neither result materialized as Xavi's deflected effort condemned the visitors to a 1-0 defeat, meanwhile Sweden defeated the Latvians 2-1. Unlike England, the Northern Irish can look back on the campaign with pride, exceeding all expectations with some terrific displays that included a home win over the Spanish and David Healy breaking the record for the highest number of goals scored in European Championship qualifying (13).

The other home nation in action tonight was Wales, who picked up an impressive point in Germany to finish fifth in Group 10, 0-0 the final score in a game of few chances, and back on the domestic scene, there were wins for Bournemouth, Brighton, Grimsby, Hereford, Northampton and Forest Green in FA Cup 1st round replay matches on Tuesday night.

images - bbc.co.uk/sport