England coach Steve McClaren came under fire after England fell to Croatia, 2-0, in yet another dismal showing in Euro 2008 qualifying.
The result left England tied with Croatia, Israel and Macedonia for first place in Group E with seven points — Croatia and Israel (along with Russia two points behind) have a game in hand — and England fans at Zagreb's Maksimir Stadium calling for McClaren's firing.
After England's 0-0 tie with Macedonia Saturday in Manchester, McClaren called on his players to play with pride and passion — to put on ''an English performance'' in Zagreb. Well, he got just that — another listless performance against a Croatian team that dominated the game and got goals from Brazilian-born Eduardo da Silva and English defender Gary Neville on a harmless-looking backpass that got past England keeper Paul Robinson for an own goal.
McClaren, who succeeded Sven Goran Erikson as England coach after the 2006 World Cup, took the blame for the defeat. ''Croatia won the game because of my mistakes,'' he said. ''The tactics obviously didn't work.'' McClaren was referring to the 3-5-2 formation England has adopted.
Europe's other major powers all won. World Cup champion Italy won, 3-1, in Georgia, France bounced back from its 1-0 loss in Scotland on Saturday to beat the Faeroe Islands, 5-0. Germany won, 4-1, at Slovakia, and the Netherlands edged Albania, 2-1, to extend its record unbeaten streak at home in European qualifiers to 39 matches.
Defending European champion Greece and Turkey remained perfect in Group C with wins over Bosnia & Herzegovina (4-0) and Moldova (5-0), respectively. Turk Hakan Sukur scored four goals to take his international tally to 50. Germany, which easily swept past Slovakia, 4-1, on the road, and Sweden, which won, 2-1, at Iceland after falling begin in the 6th minute, are the only other teams with perfect records.
After opening with three straight wins, Scotland fell to earth with a 2-0 loss at Ukraine. Once-mighty Hungary sunk to a new low when it lost to Malta, 2-1. For the Maltese, it was their first win European qualifying in 24 years.