The romance has been long. England wasted their matches and got to the point where destiny was in the hands of Israel. Brave Israel gave England (and McClaren) the chance for redemption but the Three Lions did not make it happen. Tragic end, England is not going to EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland. On a soaked Wembley, McClaren’s poor choices showed on the pitch as a superb Croatian squad proved to be a force in world football.

I have to say that choosing the young Carson as the Three Lions keeper was a dubious choice. Not the smartest one in my eyes, as we could see from the first goal. It also does not make much sense the reason why he left Beckham out and put Wright-Phillips in. Say what you want, but Beckham did his job well in the last matches whether he’s fit or not. McClaren’s 4-3-3 ended up as a 4-5-1 and Crouch was left isolated with the Croatian defenders.

Now one thing is for sure: You are losing 2-0, you tie the game at home, with all your fans jumping in joy and you still manage to take another one in and lose a crucial match, it is really a poor job. Really, England deserves to go home after this poor match, they were given a second chance and blew it. McClaren should take a big blame for it.

But football is football, and things like this are sort of bound to happen. That’s why we love the beautiful game.