England's Euro 2008 dreams - and quite possibly Steve McClaren's
job - were washed away in the Wembley rain despite a thrilling
David Beckham-inspired comeback.
GettyImages
Scott Carson lets the ball slip under his grasp early on.
Two goals down to Croatia at the break, needing a point to reach
next summer's finals and his big goalkeeping gamble having
backfired in catastrophic fashion, McClaren turned to Beckham for
salvation.
On his 99th England appearance, the veteran midfielder almost
provided it too, setting up Peter Crouch for a superb equaliser
after Frank Lampard had converted a 56th-minute penalty.
But remaining on level terms against a team with nothing to play
for proved a task too far for sorry England, who didn't deserve to
be level in the first place.
And when substitute Mladen Petric beat hapless Scott Carson from 20
yards 13 minutes from time, there was no way back and surely no way
McClaren can hold onto his job either, having failed to deliver
qualification despite the unexpected reprieve given to his
stuttering, faltering side by Israel at the weekend.
It will hurt McClaren all the more that the first seeds of
England's downfall were sown by Carson's monumental early
blunder.
The youngster, plunged into the biggest game of his life in place
of Paul Robinson, just five days after his international debut in
Austria, could not have endured a more miserable evening, letting
Niko Kranjcar's hopeful 25-yard effort slip through his fingers and
into his own goal with just eight minutes on the clock.
It was the kind of error that would have had a park keeper wishing
the ground would open up and swallow him. On this stage, at this
level, there is simply no excuse. Not the rain. Not a swerving
ball. Nothing.
And, stood on the sidelines, red and blue brolly protecting him
from the elements, McClaren must have felt just like Chancellor
Alistair Darling in the wake of the Child Benefit data crisis,
blameless for the blunder but culpable all the same.
England might well have gained instant redemption had Shaun
Wright-Phillips, the man who got the nod over Beckham, been able to
finish when Joe Cole, one of the few home players exempt from
criticism, and Peter Crouch combined to set him up.
The angle was tight but Wright-Phillips could have finished.
Instead, he blasted straight at Stipe Pletikosa and not long
afterwards, England found themselves two adrift.
This time the architect was Eduardo Da Silva, a bit-part player for
Arsenal so far but clearly blessed with impeccable dribbling skills
as he drove at the heart of England's desperately back-pedalling
defence.
For some inexplicable reason, Wright-Phillips, finding himself in
an unaccustomed right-back slot, tried to play Ivica Olic offside.
The ill-advised move merely allowed the striker to stroll through,
round Carson and tap into an empty net.
A capacity Wembley crowd was shell-shocked, barely able to grasp
the nightmare unfolding in front of them.
At no point did Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard get hold of the
game, at no point did Crouch look a threat and at no point did
England's defence look capable of resisting Croatia for the
remainder of the game.
As he delivered potentially his last half-time team-talk, the boos
of his own fans once again ringing in his ears, McClaren's belief
could have been reinforced only by the knowledge that twice in his
Middlesbrough days, his teams somehow engineered comebacks from
three goals behind against Steaua Bucharest and AS Roma.
It must have been in his mind as he sent on Beckham and Jermain
Defoe. And it must have been coursing through his veins when
Beckham lined up a 50th-minute free-kick from roughly the same
position he netted that famous injury-time goal against Greece that
saw England reach the 2002 World Cup.
This time, Beckham could only strike the wall. But his introduction
had invigorated England and, for the first time, unsettled
Croatia.
Josip Simunic, the man booked three times by Graham Poll at the
last World Cup, was panicked into a penalty box tug on Defoe. The
foul was spotted by an eagle-eyed assistant and up stepped Lampard
to send Pletikosa the wrong way.
Now, the crowd were right behind England, forgetting just how badly
they had been let down before.
And who should respond most positively of all but Beckham. His
fitness may be lacking but his right boot remains lethal.
With one deft chip, he picked out Crouch, who controlled on his
chest before rattling home his 14th international goal.
None have been better received and none have been as
important.
As Crouch raced away, pursued by ecstatic team-mates, McClaren
darted off the bench, punching the air in utter jubilation.
It seemed McClaren's version of the Great Escape would reach a
memorable and totally satisfactory conclusion.
Instead, just as Steve McQueen was recaptured and jailed, so
England were snared again as substitute Petric belted home from 20
yards to knock them out.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=197492&cc=4716
As an England fan, I am super disappointed. 
Oh yeah one interesting fact, 6% of the people says we should stick
with McClaren, whereas a whopping 53% wants Mourinho.
