In a nail biting night of International football, England fail to qualify for next years Euro 2008 competition.

England Defeated By Croatia

After Russia’s last minute defeat in Israel, England needed a point to secure a place in Euro 2008. Goalkeeper Paul Robinson was dropped for Scott Carson and Shaun Wright Phillips was preferred to David Beckham, with Peter Crouch leading the attack in a 4-5-1 formation.

England had a terrible start with Kranjcar’s long range effort going past Carson before Olic made it 2-0 with 14 minutes gone.
England were handed a life line when they were awarded a soft penalty that Frank Lampard converted, before Peter Crouch fired home David Beckham’s superb cross. A draw would have been enough to send England through, but substitute Petric’s angled drive flew past Scott Carson to retake the lead.
Darren Bent came closest to equalising for the home side, seeing his effort clip the cross bar. It was a poor performance by England and many people will now be calling for a new coach for the World Cup campaign.

Russia Scrape Win Over Andorra

In the other group match of the evening, Russia did what was expected of them and gained a victory over minnows Andorra with a 39th minute goal from Sychev. It wasn’t as straight forward as it could have been with midfielder Arshavin sent off with 6 minutes to go. On the night 1-0 was enough to seal qualification for Guus Hiddink’s side.