England vs Croatia — The rivalry that defined a generation
The Three Lions’ chequered past
England’s Golden Generation is synonymous with disappointment. Under the crushing weight of expectation, the dream of a first major trophy since 1966 became a nightmare over the course of a decade as an immensely gifted group of players failed repeatedly on the international stage. At the same time, the perception of the Three Lions in the eyes of the nation at large diminished from one of pride mired by heartbreak to one of derision and embarrassment. This is the story of England’s fall from grace, both on the pitch and in the public imagination, told through a series of six matches in as many years against Croatia between 2003 and 2009.
Lisbon, July 2004
Everything seemed to be falling into place. England only needed a draw against Croatia to secure a spot in the last eight of the Euros. This was a side which Sven’s men had made light work of a year previously in a 3–1 friendly win, and on the basis of their current form they had every reason to be confident of a similar outcome. The Three Lions had played well in their opening match despite divine intervention in the form of Zinedine Zidane having turned the game on its head in stoppage time, and any uneasy nerves were calmed by a convincing 3–0 win over Switzerland in the second game of the group stage. The prodigious talents of an 18 year old Wayne Rooney had been on display, terrorising the veteran French defence before chalking up two goals against the Swiss. He seemed to be the final piece of the puzzle, completing what is usually considered the classic lineup of the Golden Generation team.
Bizarrely, this was England’s lineup only four times, and the same XI with Rio Ferdinand in place of Sol Campbell never once played together. It’s because of this that the win over Croatia stands as an iconic moment among the high water marks of the Golden Generation era, its mystique only enhanced by Pierluigi Collina’s presence as referee on the day. The Italian’s intense gaze had already presided over two legendary games of Sven’s tenure, namely the 5–1 win against the Germans in their own backyard and the victory over Argentina in 2002 to exorcise the ghost of ’98. The match was truly of its time. And although Croatia took an early lead, goals from Paul Scholes, Rooney, and Frank Lampard secured a swaggering 4–2 win for the Three Lions, seeing them progress to the quarter finals at the Croats’ expense.
The nature of England’s eventual exit ensured that the team would walk away from the tournament with their reputations intact, the nation heartbroken after losing to hosts Portugal in the cruellest of circumstances. Rooney went off injured after an electric start, and a late Campbell winner was ruled out by the referee before England lost in the shoot-out. ‘England pay penalty for referee blunder’ decried the Daily Mail, who threw their support behind Sven and his team to bounce back at the 2006 World Cup. How things would change.
Zagreb, October 2006
The Sven era was over. ‘England Expects’ had been the rallying cry before Germany 2006, but the Three Lions had been underwhelming on their way to a third consecutive quarter final exit at the hands of a Luis Felipe Scolari side. The England camp at Baden Baden had descended into a media circus as the WAGs reached the peak of their powers, and the nation was left wondering where it all went wrong. Where heartbreak had been the overriding feeling after Euro 2004, this World Cup brought disappointment, frustration, and anger at not only Cristiano Ronaldo’s infamous wink but also the team’s lacklustre showing.
Enter Steve McClaren. Entrusted with the unenviable task of delivering on the promise of the Golden Generation, questions were already being asked after a 0–0 draw with Macedonia at Old Trafford in England’s third match of the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Four days later, his side were in Zagreb preparing to face a team whose most notable achievement of the previous two years was having one of their players get booked three times in one match by Graham Poll at the World Cup. It would turn out to be the first of several England careers ended by Croatia over the next few years.
Dropping David Beckham and switching up the formation to a 3–5–2 with Gary Neville and Ashley Cole as wing backs, McClaren was eager to take charge and turn England’s fortunes around. It was a disaster. England were being outclassed in every department and Croatia took the lead just after the hour, Eduardo’s header looping over the hapless Paul Robinson. What followed eight minutes later was an epoch-defining moment for England, as one stray lump of turf in the Maksimir Stadium bent the arc of the Golden Generation’s tragedy into a full blown comedy. It was agonising in its perfection. Neville’s backpass rolled smoothly over the turf only to bobble a few inches into the air at precisely the moment Paul Robinson’s right boot should have connected with the ball to hoof it clear. Instead, the players, fans, and the millions watching at home could do nothing but look on helplessly as the ball trickled into Robinson’s empty net. Like those of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, Borat’s eyes watched on in judgement from the advertising hoardings.
The game finished 2–0 to Croatia, with Neville ignominious after having scored an own goal. It was an awful performance, and adding to the now familiar complaints about overpaid players who don’t deserve to wear the shirt was talk of McClaren being sacked just five games in. But the Euros beckoned, and it wasn’t over yet.
London, November 2007
A little over a year later, the atmosphere was far more tense. After a 2–1 defeat in Moscow, England needed at least a draw in their final group game to guarantee their place at Euro 2008 on goal difference ahead of Russia. To make matters worse, Steve McClaren’s side would be short of options in attack in the absence of Rooney, Michael Owen and Emile Heskey due to injury. But their opponents had already qualified, so it was surely reasonable to expect at least a draw under the Wembley arch to see England safely through to the Finals in Austria and Switzerland the following summer.
Torrid rainfall had saturated the turf, stifling any passing play across the deck. Despite this, McClaren opted to start 6’7” aerial threat Peter Crouch but leave one of the world’s best crossers in the form of Beckham on the bench, instead playing Shawn Wright-Phillips in a 4–5–1. He also gave the nod to 22 year old Scott Carson to make his competitive debut, the young keeper only finding out on the day of the match that he’d be playing. Eight minutes in, Carson fumbled Niko Kranjcar’s tame long range effort and the Three Lions were behind. And after a quarter of an hour, Ivica Olic rounded Carson to make it 2–0 and England found themselves staring elimination in the face. The Wembley mud bath would play a part in the unfolding tragicomedy as Campbell intercepted yet another Croatian attack with his famous never-ending slide tackle. Goals from Lampard and Crouch in the second half brought the scores level again, only for Mladen Petric to restore Croatia’s lead in the 77th minute. At 3–2, the dying embers of public expectation were finally extinguished by the autumn rain.
As a cacophony of boos rang out around Wembley, all eyes turned to the most conspicuous man with an umbrella since the JFK assassination. While his counterpart Slaven Bilic wore a beanie, McClaren had instead opted for the giant FA umbrella in the hope of avoiding a rinsing in the press. Nevertheless, he will forever be remembered as the ‘Wally with a Brolly’ standing gormlessly on the touchline, paper cup of coffee in hand, as England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
There was less despondency this time. McClaren’s David Brent-esque ineptitude and Carson’s blunder became the focus of public ridicule as the nation resumed its beloved past-time of revelling in the misfortune of its own heroes. The Bard himself would have been proud of the way England had built tension throughout the qualifying campaign before dissipating it in such a ludicrous manner. By the time the Finals came around there was an odd sense of relief among England fans who didn’t have to suffer through a now all too familiar ordeal. The nation could instead focus its attention on Ashley Cole’s alleged infidelities and moan about what a joke the Three Lions had become.
Zagreb, September 2008
Then all of a sudden the mood shifted again. England and Croatia were drawn in the same group for the World Cup qualifiers, the opportunity for revenge caused a genuine rivalry to emerge. The fixture was voted the most anticipated of the group stage in a fifa.com poll, and England fans now had something to look forward to other than the customary drubbings of San Marino and other minnows with a three digit FIFA world ranking. I have a distinct memory of Absolute Radio’s Christian O’Connell placing a public wager on the game with the host of a Croatian radio station; this wasn’t just any old international break interrupting the Premiership schedule. The core of the Golden Generation team was still largely intact: Terry, Gerrard, Lampard, Cole, Ferdinand, Rooney. South Africa 2010, dare to dream? It was on.
Unfortunately for the majority of England fans, they found themselves unable to watch the game because it was being broadcast on Setanta Sports. But the few who did pay up got their money’s worth: a Theo Walcott hat trick inspiring England to a 4–1 win and Croatia’s first competitive home defeat in their history. Everyone thought the youngster was the real deal, unlike Bilic’s fresh crop of U21 graduates who didn’t seem up to much at all. No need to remember names like Rakitic, Mandzukic or Corluka for future reference.
In hindsight, it was about as dramatic a false dawn as one could imagine. It would take Walcott another seven years to score his next three England goals, and new manager Fabio Capello would never deliver on the tag of ‘genius’ bestowed upon him in the press the next day. But even at the time, the fact that comparatively few people watched the match live meant that it was much less of a collective national experience than McClaren’s final game in charge had been, its revitalising effects on the team’s stature accordingly minimal. The positive results under Capello were actually doing very little to alter the trajectory of the Three Lions’ fall from grace in the public eye.
Three weeks later, Harry Enfield’s inconsolable Capello in the ‘Paquador’ sketch gave a good indication of the national mood. England lose to the imaginary South American side against all odds, reflecting the defeatist attitude of the nation at the time the sketch was filmed just after the Italian’s appointment as manager.
London, September 2009
In fact, England’s woes had become so ubiquitous in the national consciousness that they transcended football altogether. Families across the country sitting down to watch BBC1’s Red Nose Day broadcast in March 2009 were greeted with James Corden in character as oafish handyman Smithy giving the likes of Beckham, Ferdinand and Lampard a dressing down after stumbling upon their team meeting. It was part sketch, part exasperated voice of the common man venting his frustrations at everything from silly haircuts to Lampard’s perennial lack of chemistry with Steven Gerrard. The team’s shortcomings were now the butt of jokes aimed at an audience of the whole country. “You know how we make a team work, right?”, Smithy asks. “How?”, Beckham replies. Delivering the John Barnes rap from ‘World in Motion’ as a motivational speech, Corden inadvertently gives us the answer: wish for things to be like the old days.
A few months later, Capello’s men gave Croatia a 5–1 thrashing to confirm their place in the 2010 World Cup Finals with eight wins out of eight in the qualifying group. England weren’t particularly outstanding, rather Croatia were shambolic in the absence of key players like Luka Modric, England’s fifth goal ironically the result of a goalkeeping howler. It was the Adriatic nation’s worst ever loss, compounded a month later by England gifting Ukraine the second qualifying spot via two major mishaps in defence. Could England really go all the way in 2010? The scoresheet looked the part: Lampard (2), Gerrard (2), Rooney; and the back pages after a favourable finals draw in December read England, Algeria, Slovenia, Yanks. But the damage to the national psyche was already done, and it was about to get worse.
John Terry, the UK’s Dad of the Year in 2009, became embroiled in allegations of an extramarital affair with Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel. Capello stripped him of the captaincy in February 2010, and weeks later Ashley and Cheryl Cole announced their separation amid fresh accusations of unfaithfulness. The tabloid circus was back in full swing as media intrusion at the behest of uncovering salacious gossip took precedence over helping the team.
In the lead up to the 2010 Finals, BBC3 broadcast England’s Worst Ever Football Team, a show which featured assorted one-time Mock the Week panellists and other C-list talking heads sifting through the biggest flops ever to have won an international cap. It alluded to the public’s low regard for the Three Lions, taking passing shots at icons like Beckham and naming Terry as captain of their XI in light of his recent tabloid infamy. The show was a product of the zeitgeist, it couldn’t have been made 5 years earlier. Any serious encouragement that might have been gleaned from the win over Croatia was irrelevant when the essence of England was David Nugent smashing the ball into the back of the empty Andorran net from on the goal line.
The fall from grace was complete, the significance of the final match in this six game series being that it basically didn’t matter at all. England had been world-beaters in waiting when they faced Croatia in 2003 and 2004, but primed by tournament letdowns they passed through the looking glass into comic calamity with Robinson’s air kick. Even after McClaren, the team found its reputation irreparable as good results remained in the shadow of media derision. The Three Lions were by now just one part of the national psyche of self-deprecation and disappointment.
Epilogue — Moscow, July 2018
It had taken another four abject tournament performances, each more depressing than the last, for England to reach their nadir against Iceland in 2016. And just as an unlikely 2018 World Cup run was heralding the return of unironic belief and joy to England supporters, along came an old adversary to burst the bubble.
Victory over Croatia in the new Nations League later that year clearly can’t be seen as revenge for the semi final defeat in Russia. But the wins under Capello didn’t feel like revenge either, even though it could easily be argued that Croatia missing out on the 2010 World Cup was worse than England missing out on Euro 2008. They certainly didn’t carry the same weight that beating Germany or Argentina does. This is the by-product of a very English sense of exceptionalism: we believe ourselves to be a part of the elite of international football when we objectively are not. Matches against Croatia will never generate hype among supporters or the media in the way historic enemies like Germany or titans like Brazil can. We see them as upstarts, yet we encounter them at every turn as equals.
What’s the biggest team England have beaten at a major tournament since 2002, Colombia? Meanwhile, we’ve lost to France, Portugal, Germany, Uruguay, Italy twice, Belgium twice in one tournament, and drawn with a poor France side at Euro 2012. It’s not surprising that the rest of the world thinks England are mediocre.
To be sure, Croatian fans hate Serbia far more than the likes of England for obvious historical reasons. But this is probably England’s most consequential rivalry of the 21st Century even if it isn’t the most heated. The six games of the 2000s featured several of the defining events of the decade for the Three Lions, providing a road map for the team’s steady decline. Now, as England would have been preparing to open their Euro 2020 campaign with their fourth match against Croatia in three years, we can only wait and see whether the generation of Kane, Sterling and Sancho will have its destiny defined by the same opponents as that of Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard et al.
