England’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Croatia at Wembley Stadium sealed their Euro 2008 fate and also sealed the fate of coach Steve McClaren.  McClaren did not lose his job based on the loss to Croatia or his stupid decision to start Scott Carson instead of Paul Robinson at goal.  There is absolutely no excuse for any English national team coach to fail to qualify for any World Cup or European Championship.  The bottom line is, England is simply too talented for this to ever happen.   I do not buy the excuse of too many foreign players playing in the Premiership.   If you cannot put together a competitive squad over 12 matches despite some injuries, you do not belong as the English national team coach.  This result should be considered a total embarrassment for England and the FA should clean house and get this straightened out before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Much credit to Croatia for playing their hearts out for this victory when they could have easily let this match slip away.  They played as if they had to win to qualify.  Well deserved win for Croatia and congrats to Russia for qualifying!