England Match No. 878 - Croatia - 9 September 2009 (original) (raw)

England Football Online
	Page Last Updated 13 April 2012

Match Summary

| Officials from Spain | England | Type | | | | Croatia | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | ----------------- | ------ | | | ------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Referee (yellow)- Alberto Undiano Mallenco 35 (8 October 1973), Pamplona, FIFA-listed 2004. Assistant Referees - Fermin Martinez, 43 (4 July 1966) and Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez, 33 (25 September 2009). Fourth official - Carlos Clos Gómez, 37 (30 June 1972), Zaragoza. | 12 | Goal Attempts | 11 | | | | | | | | 9 | Attempts on Target | 5 | | | | | | | | | 0 | Hit Bar/Post | 0 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Corner Kicks Won | 3 | | | | | | | | | 8 | Offside Calls Against | 3 | | | | | | | | | 16 | Fouls Conceded | 9 | | | | | | | | | 53.1% | Possession | 46.9% | | | | | | | |

England Team

Rank:	FIFA (2nd Sept 2009) 7th EFO rankingGroup 2 ELO rating 4th	Colours:	The 2009 home uniform - Plain white collared jerseys, plain white shorts, p lain white socks.
Capt:	John Terry, 26th captaincy	Manager:	Fabio Capello, 63 (18 June 1946), appointed 14 December 2007, effective 7 January 2008, 18th match, W 14 - D 2 - L 2 - F 50 - A 15.
England Lineup
1	Green, Robert P.	29	18 January 1980	G	West Ham United FC	7	6ᵍᵃ
2	Johnson, Glen M.	25	23 August 1984	RB	Liverpool FC	18	0
3	Cole, Ashley	28	20 December 1980	LB	Chelsea FC	76	0
4	Gerrard, Steven G., off 80th min.	29	30 May 1980	LM	Liverpool FC	76	16
the 333rd (200th post-war) brace scored
5	Upson, Matthew J.	30	18 April 1979	CD	West Ham United FC	17	1
6	Terry, John G.	28	7 December 1980	CD	Chelsea FC	56	6
Terry cautioned in the 85th minute for unsporting behaviour for a foul on Klasnić.
7	Lennon, Aaron J., off 80th min.	22	16 April 1987	RM	Tottenham Hotspur FC	13	0
8	Lampard, Frank J.	31	20 June 1978	CM	Chelsea FC	74	19 (5)
the 68th penalty kick scored the 332nd (199th post-war) brace scored
9	Heskey, Emile W.I., off 59th min	31	11 January 1978	F	Aston Villa FC	56	7
10	Rooney, Wayne M.	23	24 October 1985	F	Manchester United FC	55	24
11	Barry, Gareth	28	23 February 1981	CM	Manchester City FC	33	2
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 3 Croatia 0
16	Defoe, Jermain C., on 59th min. for Heskey	26	7 October 1982	F	Tottenham Hotspur FC	37	11
scoreline: England 5 Croatia 1
17	Beckham, David R.J., on 80th min. for Lennon	34	2 May 1975	RM	LA Galaxy, United States	114	17
15	Milner, James P., on 80th min. for Gerrard	23	4 January 1986	LM	Aston Villa FC	3	0
scoreline: England 5 Croatia 1
unused substitutes:	12-Ben Foster, 13-Wes Brown, 14-Wayne Bridge, 18-Peter Crouch.
team notes:	Jermain Defoe comes on as a substitute for a 25th occasion, equalling the record held by Owen Hargreaves. Steven Gerrard has now played in a record fourteen of the fiftteen home matches at the new National Stadium. Gareth Barry thirteen, and Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have twelve appearances each.Wayne Rooney has extended his tally as the record goalscorer at the new Stadium. However, his eight is just one ahead of Frank Lampard's, whose tally includes a record three penalty kicks.Frank Lampard is the first player to score in three consecutive matches at the Stadium. He has also scored a record five goals against Croatia.
Coach Fabio Capello played for Italy against England in June (scoring one) and November 1973 (scoring another), and in May and November 1976.
4-4-2	Green - Johnson, Terry, Upson, Cole - Lennon (Beckham), Barry, Lampard, Gerrard (Milner) - Rooney, Heskey (Defoe).
Averages (Starting XI):	Age	27.6	Appearances/Goals	29.9	6.5

Croatia Team

Rank:	FIFA (2nd Sept 2009) 9th EFO rankingGroup 5 ELO rating 8th	Colours:	Made by Nike -Blue v-neck jerseys with red collar and red & white chequered side panels, blue shorts, blue socks with red/white chequered hoop;
Capt:	Darijo Srna	Manager:	Slaven BIlić, 40 (11 September 1968), appointed 25 July 2006. 35th match, W 24 - D 7 - L 4 - F 70 - A 34.
Croatia Lineup
1	Runje, Vedran	33	10 February 1976	G	RC de Lens, France	10	0
2	Pokrivač, Nikola, off 46th min.	23	26 November 1985	CM	FC Red Bull Salzburg, Austria	8	0
3	Šimunić, Josip	31	18 February 1979 born in Australia	CD	TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, Germany	74	3
Šimunić cautioned in the 44th minute for unsporting behaviour for a foul on Heskey.
4	Krizanac, Ivića	30	13 April 1979	CD	FC Zenit Sankt-Petersburg, Russia	8	0
5	Vukojević, Ognjen	25	20 December 1983	CM	FC Dynamo Kyiv, Russia	16	1
6	Pranjić, Danijel	26	2 December 1981	RB	FC Bayern München, Germany	25	0
7	Mandzukić, Mario	23	21 May 1986	LM	NK Dinamo Zagreb	8	1
8	Kranjčar, Niko	25	13 August 1984	RM	Tottenham Hotspur FC, England	51	7
9	da Silva,Eduardo A., off 73rd min.	26	25 February 1983 born in Brazil	F	Arsenal FC, England	27	16
10	Olić, Ivića, off 46th min.	28	14 September 1979	F	FC Bayern München , Germany	67	13
11	Srna, Darijo	27	1 May 1982	LB	FC Shakhtar Donetsk, Ukraine	68	17
Croatia Substitutes
scoreline: England 2 Croatia 0
10	Petrić, Mladen, on 46th min. for Olić	28	1 January 1981	F	Hamburger SV, Germany	35	11
7	Rakitić, Ivan**,** on 46th min. for Pokrivač	21	10 March 1988 born in Switzerland	M	FC Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04, Germany	22	7
scoreline: England 3 Croatia 0
17	Klasnić, Ivan, on 73rd min. for Eduardo	29	29 January 1980 born in West Germany	F	Bolton Wanderers FC, England, on loan from FC de Nantes, France	36	11
result: England 5 Croatia 1
unused substitutes:	1-Danijel Subašić, 2-Dino Drpić, 5-Hrvoje Čale, 14-Jerko Leko.
Coach Slaven BIlić played for Croatia against England in April 1996.
4-4-2	Runje - Pranjić, Šimunić, Krizanac, Srna - Kranjčar, Pokrivač (Rakitić), Vukojević, Mandzukić - Olić (Petrić), Eduardo (Klasnić).
Averages (Starting XI):	Age	27.0	Appearances/Goals	32.4	5.2

Match Reportby Mike Payne

All the pre-match questions as to whether England could qualify for the World Cup against Croatia were answered emphatically with a scintillating performance at Wembley. England are most definitely on their way to South Africa!

Right from the first whistle England were on their game. They pressed the Croatians into their own half and all the home players looked full of determination and running. It took just seven minutes to unlock the visiting defence. Aaron Lennon's pace had already frightened the Croatians and when the Tottenham winger cut inside across the edge of the box Josip Simonic's clumsy challenge gave the referee his easiest decision of the night. Penalty! Up stepped Frank Lampard with an exact replica of his penalty goal against Slovenia four days earlier.

That was just the start England wanted, but they did not take their foot off the pedal for a moment and in the first half alone they could have scored six goals. Steven Gerrard headed Wayne Rooney's cross over, Gareth Barry hit a screamer that was very well saved by Vedran Runje, diving to his right, and then on seventeen minutes Gerrard's pass found Lennon on the right and his cross to the far post was met by the incoming Liverpool captain who scored with a glorious header to make it 2-0.

The opening twenty minutes had been superb by England and Fabio Capello saw all his work pay off as the players carried out his instructions to the letter. The visitors did come into the game for a while after going two goals down but England were still in control. Gareth Barry was outstanding in his midfield role, intercepting, making good tackles, supporting the attack and always making himself available for his colleagues. Croatia could not create anything by way of a goal attempt and Rob Green had an easy half. On 27 minutes Frank Lampard hit a 35 yard free-kick, which again the goalkeeper did well to claw away. Rooney then cleverly put Lennon clear but the goalkeeper just managed a touch to stop his shot and if Emile Heskey's touch had been better he too would have scored following another good attack.

Croatia had no answer as the England players snapped at their every move, with the nearest home player taking on the man in possession. It was tremendous stuff and the crowd loved it. On 38 minutes Gerrard had another chance down the left as he broke clear and he should have finished better. Still the chances kept coming, on 42 minutes Heskey should have scored but took his eye off the ball believing he was offside, which he wasn't. A minute later and Heskey set up Lampard who completely fluffed his shot. Just before the break Lampard returned the compliment by setting up Heskey, but again the big forward missed a golden chance. The England players were deservedly given a standing ovation as they went off at half-time, and they could have been out of sight if they had taken all their chances.

After the break Croatia brought on two substitutes and for ten minutes they did look a little livelier, keeping possession well and making England work hard. But after 58 minutes England scored the goal that settled the match, and it was another cracker. Lennon was again involved, passing to Gerrard who, in turn, found Glen Johnson down the right wing. Some tricky footwork and a wonderful cross saw the ball met by a deft header from that man Lampard again. Eight minutes later and England went 4-0 up as Gerrard, Barry and Rooney combined for Rooney to cross into the middle where Gerrard followed up to score with another fine header.

It was the 69th minute when Croatia had their first shot on target, Nico Kranjcar's shot easily saved by Green, and just as England were congratulating themselves on a tight defensive performance they conceded a goal. Johnson had played really well at right-back but once again he was turned to easily by the winger attacking down the left. The cross came in and Green made a fabulous diving save to his left to keep out Eduardo Da Silva's header. The ball spun loose and Green again saved well, this time from Mario Mandzukic, but unfortunately for the goalkeeper Eduardo was able to pounce on the second rebound to score from close range. If Green was annoyed, you should have seen Capello's reaction! He was furious.

But that one blemish on the night's entertainment was forgiven when England made it 5-1 on 76 minutes. This time the Croatians, or more specifically goalkeeper Runje, gifted England another goal. Runje tried to kick clear a backpass and only succeeded in giving Rooney the easiest of chances to score his ninth goal of the campaign. It was a shame for Runje who had earlier made some fine saves. But there was no denying England as they thoroughly deserved their win after a sparkling all round team performance, the best the new Wembley has seen so far. A great night!

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com ITV.com/football UEFA.com RateTheRef.com Mike Payne - football historian and contributor ____________________

CG