It's hard to call Coach Fran a terrible coach

Michael Owen was also missing having fired England to victory over Russia in a vital qualifier two months earlier.Scott Carson was handed his full debut, picked ahead of David James, and was at fault for the opening goal as he shovelled a long-range Niko Kranjcar effort into the net behind him after just eight minutes. Only a few minutes later and an incisive Croatian counter-attack ended with Ivica Olic, played onside by Shaun Wright-Phillips, round Carson before sliding into the empty net.Time after time Englands shaky backline were exposed by the running power of lone striker Eduardo, but McClaren acted decisively at half-time, hauling off Garth Barry and Wright-Phillips for Jermain Defoe and David Beckham as the home side switched to a straight 4-4-2 formation.The move paid dividends as England were awarded a penalty, with Defoe softly adjudged to have been pulled back Frank Lampard slammed the ball home from the spot. Midway through the second-half and England were level and once more on track for qualification as Beckham crossed expertly from the right for Crouch to pull the ball down between two defenders and rifle into the net.By this time McClarens umbrella had made its appearance on the touchline and the rain-sheltering apparatus became infamous when, with thirteen minutes left on the clock, Croatia substitute Mladen Petric shot from the edge of the box across Carson into the far corner of the net.McClaren was defiant in defeat but was sacked the next day Croatia went on to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2008.. Englands second game of the 2002 World Cup pitted them against old rivals Argentina in a rematch of the last-16 clash in St Etienne four years previously.The match was the key game of the quickly christened Group of Death, with Argentina having beaten Nigeria in their opening game whilst England drew with Sweden.England started well, enjoying a large amount of possession which almost paid off when, after 24 minutes, Michael Owen raced onto a through ball from Nicky Butt only to see his shot come back off the post.

However, one minute before halftime and England did take the lead when Michael Owen, in an echo of the clash in 1998, was brought down when darting into the Argentinian penalty area.David Beckham, the villian of the piece after his red card four years earlier, rammed the penalty straight down the middle of the goal to finally exorcise his demons.Paul Scholes and substitute Teddy Sheringham had good shots saved early in the second half before the tide turned Argentinas way around the hour mark as the South Americans started to dominate possession and, increasingly, the territory.Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell soaked up wave after wave of Argentinian attack and David Seaman saved superbly from a point-blank Mauricio Pochettino header and England hung on, albeit increasingly desperately, for a famous win which would eventually see them progress from the group stage with Sweden, sending Argentina, one of the pre-tournament favourites, home at the first hurdle.. Fabio Capello took his side back to Zagreb in only his second competitive game in charge, just four days after an extremely unconvincing 2-0 win over Andorra in Barcelona.Croatia had beaten England twice in qualifying for Euro 2008, denying the Three Lions a place in Austria and Switzerland and fans and pundits alike were apprehensive about an immediate return to the Croatian capital for World Cup Qualifying, a city in which Croatia had never previously lost a competitive game. Such fear turned out to be entirely misplaced as England produced their most inspired away performance for many a year to leave the home side and their proud record in tatters. Theo Walcott, starting only his second game for his country, displayed clinical finishing to score a hat-trick, becoming the youngest player to ever do so for England in the process.Wayne Rooney added further gloss to the scoreline, which could have been worse after Robert Kovac saw red for an ugly elbow on Joe Cole which left the England man needing over a dozen stitches.Fabio Capello had well and truly announced himself as England manager..

England entered their final match of World Cup Qualifying needing a win over Greece, or at least to match Germanys result against Finland, to guarantee their place in Japan and South Korea.Sven Goran Eriksson had picked up the pieces of a disatrous start to qualifying under Kevin Keegan and caretaker boss Howard Wilkinson which had left England with only one point from their first two games. Five consecutive wins, however, and England were almost therebut not before one last twist in the tale.Angelos Charisteas opened the scoring ten minutes before the break, stunning the Old Trafford crowd into silence as England approached the match in a curiously tentative manner.England trailed for just over half an hour before Teddy Sheringham, freshly on as a substitute scored with his very first touch, flicking home a header from a freekick from Englands left.Yet, England were level for barely a minute as Demis Nikolaidis struck to restore the Greek lead and leave England with a mountain to climb with only twenty minutes left on the clock.Fast forward to injury-time and England still traileduntil David Beckham curled a last-gasp free-kick into the Greek net in front of the Stretford End to secure England a point that their performance scarcely deserved.The England captain had failed with half a dozen free-kick attempts earlier in the game but got it right when it mattered the most to gift England a point which, when coupled with Germanys surprising 0-0 draw at home to Finland, was enough to secure their place at the World Cup.Beckham finally found redemption after enduring severe personal criticism for this red card against Argentina three years earlier as he produced arguably the best ever individual performance of his career to propell England almost single-handedly back to world footballs greatest stage.. England, now under Sven Goran Eriksson, had resurrected their World Cup Qualifying campaign with three consecutive wins under the Swede but headed to Munich trailing the hosts by six points, albeit with a game in hand knowing only a win would suffice if they were to top the group and avoid the play-offs.Things looked bleak for England early on though as Carsten Jancker fired past David Seaman after just six minutes.Yet, the home lead lasted just six minutes itself as England sprung the German offside trap pushing out from a freekick as Nicky Barmby headed down for Michael Owen to fire into an empty net to draw the Three Lions level.David Seaman then produced a brilliant one-handed stop to deny Joerg Boehme before Sebastian Deisler missed a great opportunity when completely unmarked.Seconds before halftime and England took the lead after David Beckham's right-wing cross was headed down by Rio Ferdinand on the egde of the box to Steven Gerrard who crashed the ball into the bottom corner of Oliver Kahn's goal from 30 yards out for his first ever international goal.Just two minutes after the restart and England extended their lead as Michael Owen latched onto an Emile Heskey knock-down from a Beckham cross to fire past Kahn who couldn't keep the shot out at his near post.Twenty minutes later and Owen completed his hat-trick beating Kahn again with ease after he was played through by Steven Gerrard who robbed Michael Ballack of possession in his own half.Eight minutes later and Emile Heskey rounded one of the most memorable England performances of all time as he slotted the ball past the exposed Kahn after being played through by Paul Scholes, inflicting only Germany's second ever home defeat in World Cup Qualifiers.. California, here we come! Those were the words spoken by Alabama sports broadcaster Eli Gold at the conclusion of the biggest win for Alabama football in a decade.The Tide was California Dreaming! Tide faithful aren't dreaming of Hollywood starlets.We all know the world's hottest women all live in the south.Want to argue the point No Problem Megan Fox is from the South I rest my case. The staff let players dictate workout schedules and some unscrupulous boosters were allowed to run rampant. The result was a pathetic, out of shape team and a devastating NCAA probation. Alabama followed up the ill-fated hire of Mike Dubose with Dennis Franchione.It's hard to call Coach Fran a terrible coach.