England 2 - 3 Croatia
A sad, sad result. Match report online here. David Beckham came off the bench for the second half and immediately lifted the team and crowd, providing a superb cross for England's second goal, which levelled the scores at 2- 2. However, with approximately 13 minutes remaining Croatia went ahead again, denying England the one point they needed from the game to qualify.
David Beckham was the last player for England to leave the pitch. Staying as always to salute the crowd. First of the photos are in the gallery. Becks wore the number 17 today because he came on as a super-sub and the starting line-up for Euro qualifiers must wear numbers 1 through 11, so the number 7 had to be given to a starter.
Becks spoke with the media after the game and said, We're disappointed as a team and obviously the nation will be disappointed about not qualifying, if you don't win games you don't qualify. We just didn't perform and that's the end of it." You can watch his interview online here. He shows tremendous class although obviously devastated, defending his team-mates and empathising with fans. You can also read more quotes at Skysport and watch Becks being interviewed on Sky here.
Pre-match
The England team to play Croatia: Carson, Richards, Bridge, Gerrard, Lescott, Campbell, Barry, Lampard, Crouch, Wright-Phillips, J Cole. Subs: Beckham, Hargreaves, A Cole, James, Brown, Defoe, Bent.England must earn a draw in tonight's game to qualify for Euro 2008. The Match will kick off at 8pm BST which is mid-day US PT and 3PM US ET. The match will screen live on the BBC in the UK and on various cable channels around the world so check your local guide.
(Source) Teddy Sherringham, who has been a super-sub for England in the past, said, when told that David Beckham is not expected to start tonight's match for England, "For me, if you want real quality, pinpoint crosses which test defenders and give strikers a chance, then David Beckham is still your man... His delivery of the ball is still exquisite."
"He will have wanted to start [but] don't write him off, he may still have a part to play from the bench." Let's hope so!
Good Luck Becks and England!
posted by rpm at 4:48 AM
40 Comments:
Unfortunately Becks is not starting the match and is on the bench. I hope this decision backfires on McClaren. Becks is a big time player and tonight's match is a big match. Wouldn't you love it if Croatia were winning 1-0 and Becks came on a scored a free kick to earn England a draw and send them to Euro 2008. Anyway, I hope he gets a chance to show that clown McClaren what a mistake it was to drop him. Good luck Becks!
6:37 AM
Becks fan there is a discussion about this on yesterdays blog entry cos the news came out yesterday.
Good luck Becks and England :-)
7:17 AM
Go Becks - I'll cross my fingers & toes you'll be able to safe the 3 lions again and make them look like fools.
Ben
7:20 AM
I hope David plays and England wins! Go David!
8:36 AM
if anybody nows that David will for sure to sub up? I am starting worrying about he will not come up at all as I just read some reports that Paul Robinson even will not make the bench tonight. I really hope that is not the case for David. I really want David to step up to guide the team to win.
8:36 AM
I can't get the web link to work. it just a screen with the teams name on it. After buffering, nothing come up. Could you please tell me how to get the view? thank.
8:42 AM
I don't know what to tell you sorry. The link works fine and currently there are six channel options listed below the teams names - tho of course the match has not started yet it's still 3 hours away. Try hitting refresh - it's just a standard web page I really don't know why you wouldn't be able to see it properly sry.
8:53 AM
It would be great if someone can post the match news here while the game playing. I will be unable to watch ON TV as it will be not on TV in Canada. I am despretly want to know whther and when Becks will be sub up and the results. Thanks in advance.
Mei
11:17 AM
okay here we go the match just started, lets all hope for an England victory :)
Marie
12:01 PM
Oh my Goodness. They have stolen him the number 7. What the hell is this??? Could not believe this. I hate McClaren more then ever.
Regards,
Nadja
12:08 PM
Has anyone gotten any of the links to work and if so which one?
12:17 PM
oh no, 0-2 to Croatia, England needs to get their act together, the midfield is in a disarray, not to mentioned their defense...and Joe Cole seems to be hurt.
Marie
12:49 PM
beckham assisted Crouch to equalise!! Mcclaren was silly not to put Becks on in the first place.
1:25 PM
and once again our Beckham delivers and its 2-2, that was a great assist to Crouch :) come on England win this one, so that you'll get a better draw :)
Marie
1:25 PM
why did croatia have to score?:(
Tiette
1:55 PM
I wish I could cry just like you Anna. I am empty. We are out just because of some stupid choices of a redicilous coach. What else could Becks possibly do?????
2:04 PM
i'm heartbroken. there really isn't much else to say.
2:16 PM
OMG what a bad bad day for David! At the moment there are no tears, but I think they will come when I lay down to sleep.
: - ( Nadja
2:19 PM
such a disapointment, this could also mean the last of beckham with england, i hope that is not the case though. And why on earth didn't becks get to use number 7 it is his number??
2:32 PM
Well, I´m too disappointed to say something about England.
Becks played well and McClaren made a mistake by not starting him.
McClaren often said he needed Becks experience and that he is a big man match, so why not start him?
Becks played a good second half. He should have started. :-(
Congratulations to Croatia, though.
They deserved to qualify.
Still can´t believe it, but life goes on, as always.
2:38 PM
Heartbroken. We were so close, I'm devastated and shattered from the nerves. :P I'm angry at Steve McClaren, but I'm proud of Becks's performance. He really played with heart tonight and once again he demonstrated why it's so valuable to have him on the pitch. STILL don't understand the GK choices. Period. Ugh ugh ugh. *forehead slapping* Just such a sad result...but you take the bad with the good when you love a team, eh? 99th cap...that's something to take away.
PS WHAT is the deal with #7 now #17? Please tell me it was a one-off! (Though he rocked it like it was no big deal.)
2:39 PM
Are there anymore England games? Will beckham get his 100th cap??? OH I hope he does!!! He gave all that a player could and more for engalnd and he deserves one more game and hopefuly more to be one of the greatest england national football players!!!1
2:49 PM
he had the 17 because barry had the no.7.... that makes me think that maclaren wasn't prepared to play him for the game but brought him on when they were loosing
Tiette
2:54 PM
Yes please I need a explanation too about the number case. When I saw him not wearing the 7 I could not believe it and thought it was a bad sign.
Regards,
Nadja
2:59 PM
i was wondering the same thing why did they give barry the number 7, good thinng beckhams a good sport.
glad to see that beckham played a good game he has a lot of heart and he proved he should of started the game, it could have been different.
by the way i just read that mcclaren has said he is not going to quit after this loss, lets hope he does anyway
3:00 PM
My heart hurts. Dina summed up my feelings pretty well. Although the cap doesn't help for me :( .
#'s 7 and 17: the starting XI have to be numbered 1-11 in World Cup, and some other international matches, Euros included I believe.
3:01 PM
for your readers:
on such a sad day, here's an excellent link to an article in which David is nominated for Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. couldn't have read it at a better time and i hope you'll share. he's the best, still.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/magazine/specials/sportsman/2007/11/19/freedman.beckham/index.html
3:04 PM
Diane is right the starters always wear 1-11 for Euro qualifiers. The fact he was wearing 17 is not any indication of how much of the game he was going to play. Players don't have permanently assigned numbers for country as they do for club. Someone was wearing Gary Neville's "2" and someone was wearing John Terry's "6" etc etc etc it is not a slight.
3:16 PM
@Diane: Your explanation sounds good. If this is the reason I could sleep a little bit better.
Regards,
Nadja
3:17 PM
Tiette, that's what I was thinking as well--concerned it was more of a sign that he'd fairly well written Becks off. (More of a portend than an actual fact, starting 11 jerseys notwithstanding.) I suppose my questions were more kneejerk and theorhetical as only McClaren knows what's going on in that head of his. I hope in future we'll continue to see routine starts with #7 because we've not seen the last of Beckham's talent. :) I'm glad it wasn't the case, it just seemed that way to me...a red flag for the starting 11. (Given our injury list I thought that he'd maximise Becks for the midfield.) I read a great deal into these things, it's my nature. I know there was talk of a vague back injury keeping Beckham out but he certainly looked fit as a fiddle to me. McClaren's going off his rocker anyway. My $.02
3:34 PM
Nothing should be read into the shirt number
I hope McClarown is sacked his tactics were poor as always
I don't know that he made a mistake in the way that he played the lad tonight. I think we had problems at the back. I think McClown made terrible decisions for crap reasons in dropping Becks last August and not recalling him till June of this year BUT I think he got it about right with the lad today. Fact is if I was manager and I knew that the lad wasn't able to give me 90, that he didn't yet have 90 in the tank and hadn't played 90 since August and had struggled to give me 60 4 days ago... I would have done same so I can't criticise. I would have thought I want him with his experience and big game talent to still be there at the end and so I would have foregone starting him. Perhaps it would turn out to be the wrong call lots will jump up and down and say it were but I would definitely have picked having him at the end over the beginning and played him in exactly the same way.
Oh and for those saying he looked fit as a fiddle... the lad is the one who has been talking about struggling and being 90/95% over recent weeks and that is unusual for him, that's a sign that he really isn't 100% because the lad will say hes fighting fit when hes half dead that's his way bless him.
Bloody sad day anyway you look at it.
3:52 PM
What a beauty of an Assist that was ! One of his best ever IMO
I think he was the only player to talk to the media (like a real captain should do) - most of it quotes ar on the BBC article. He said he won't quit the England Team and that the Team has to fight back (like he did many times) now.
If there is a football god - please let him get his 100 Cap against Switzerland on 6th Feb 2008 @ Wembley, preferably with a goal :-)
Btw He wore #17 today (England Starting Player must be 1-11)
I think it's only the 4th time he came of the bench for an England Game.
It is the 1st time he hasn't worn Number 7 with the England Senior Team in a competitive fixture.
Ben
4:03 PM
omg
i cant believe this
i live in america so i just got back from school and the 1st thing i did was to see if england won.
its definately time to get rid of mcclaren..i cant believe it...i REALLY cant believe this
(i just noticed that becks was wearing #17..was he wearing that for the austria friendly?)
4:13 PM
Yes the last time he came off of the bench was in 98 I think.
Thanks for the Sports illustrated link to the person who shared that.
To the person who asked if there will be more England games, yes there will be and as Ben points out there is a friendly tentatively schedule for Feb against Switzerland - I think it would be the next game. We will have to wait and see who is the Manager etc then and hopefully Becks will play. I wouldn't give the media who say he will be stuck on 99 caps any credence - that's the same media who gave the impression he wouldn't play at all today, the same media that said he wouldn't even be called up for England for these last two games... so based on their track record you can probably read what they say and believe the opposite.
Ben, StevieG did speak to the media. Also there are quotes at Skysport.
5:20 PM
I didn't cry upon learning that England lost. But when I read the articles at thefa.com, I just lost it.
"Steve McClaren made two changes at half-time, bringing on David Beckham and Jermain Defoe for Gareth Barry and Wright-Phillips, and the introduction of the former England captain roused his team-mates and the home fans."
"England clawed level within minutes. Defoe and Richards combined for the right-back to send the ball down the line to Beckham. With a cultured swing of his right boot, the LA Galaxy midfielder sent a wonderfully weighted first-time cross to Crouch who controlled the ball with his chest before lashing home."
6:00 PM
I know he isn't 100% fit, but he *looked* it today. :) He didn't hop-skip, he didn't wince, and he certainly didn't give indication that I could see that his back was hurting him. That is all I meant. There's no way he'd *be* 100% match fit right now, even with all the prayers in the world on his side. He just looked great out there, and I look forward to when he can look even better for 90.
6:07 PM
Just like Becks said, there's no excuses for not making the cut. England played really badly, the defence were careless, and did not create much chances of scoring either..hate to admit it but even the BOOs were more "energetic"
Well, I'm proud of Becks' display but annoyed that McClaren only call Becks everytime there's a mess to clean up..sigh. I was jumping with joy at 2-2 but somehow the gameplay went back to being dull, and the commentator mentioned something like mcclaren changed the tactics again - asking defoe to go deep instead of fwd anymore - which is not good seeing that croatia were still very raring to attack and there you go 2-3 in moments.
So it's over for now and not sure if Becks will ever feature in such critical matches anymore as the new manager (if there is one) might get some new "overhaul" ideas jst like McClaren did....
nevertheless Becks, you are the best and alwiz will be, regardless waaring #7 or #23 or #17!
6:14 PM
I would have done the same too Syd. We'll all have our opinions about the other personnel choices, formations, etc, but if Becks didn't have 90 minutes at the top of his game, I would want him in when I knew I'd have him until the final whistle.
6:34 PM
"England were as awful as the score suggested, playing onedimensional football that was all too easy for Croatia to cope with. On the bench, Beckham watched anxiously and so did John Terry as Carson directed a clearance straight to the feet of a Croatia forward. Already this game needed Beckham's influence. It needed someone to deliver a decent ball, a decent corner, a decent free-kick. Someone who has proved so often in the past that he is the man for the big occasion. A man who, when required, can come to England's rescue."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=495535&in_page_id=1779
8:47 PM
I don't have the words still quite choked up. He looked so sad trudging off I stood and clapped and cheered as loud as I could would have liked to be able to give David a hug and tell him that we know how hard he tried
1:20 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home