Gareth Southgate's reaction
Player ratings
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So this MBM comes to its natural end. All that’s left is to point you in the direction of our man Daniel Taylor’s match report. Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you again on Monday as England take on Spain in Seville. Nighty night, wherever you are. Sweet dreams!
And finally, Gareth Southgate! “When I’m on the bench, I’m engrossed in the game, so it doesn’t make a lot of difference to me. I thought the application of the players was really good. You want to perform in front of a crowd, but they did really well. Second half we were by far the better team, and if we were more ruthless with our chances we should have won the game. We’re going to play Spain in Seville in front of 60,000 people. We want to be competitive, and will pick a team that represents our country the best.”
The captain Harry Kane ... “It was hard without the atmosphere. But we played well, especially in the second half. A bit more clinical and we would have won. At the start of the game it was weird, but it was an experience, and I thought we dealt with it well. We heard the fans, and we appreciated the support. The change of formation worked well. Second half especially, we created some good chances.”
And now Ross Barkley. “I’ve been here before, so I know what it’s like to play for England. It would have been much better to come away with three points, but we’ve got to stay positive. We had our fair share of chances, on any other day we would have won 3-0. I thought we dominated most of the game, we had the best chances, I can’t remember them having any. Where I’m at right now, I feel fresh and strong. I’ll work hard at club level and that’ll take care of itself.”
Ben Chilwell speaks. “It’s a massive day for myself and my family. For me it was about having a good game and a good performance. Of course I’d like my family to be here, but I’m sure they’re watching on TV. We just had to get on with it. It’s strange in an empty stadium. We were all aware it was going to be weird. In the changing room there were a lot of big characters I wanted to play with, so today was a very special moment. I’m ready to go again on Monday!”
As things stand in League A, Group 4:
- Spain 6pts (F8 A1)
- England 1pt (F1 A2)
- Croatia 1pt (F0 A6)
Eric Dier speaks. “It was strange. It was the first experience of it for all of us, a strange atmosphere. But once the game started we put it in the back of our minds. And we heard the supporters up on the hill, because they were the only ones! The new formation suits me well, and the team did well with it today. It’s important for us to have that flexibility. I thought I’d scored! It skidded off the grass onto the post, it was quite unlucky. Sancho was fantastic when he came on. He’s fast and technically very gifted, and hopefully he’ll be a big part of England in the future.”
It wasn’t much of a match; the surreal, eerie atmosphere can’t have helped. But England will be happy with their performance against the World Cup finalists. They were the better side tonight. Croatia created next to nothing, while England hit the woodwork twice, and Marcus Rashford missed two glorious chances in two uncertain minutes. Not ideal, then, but not so bad either. Given this game was perhaps always destined to be a weird non-event, Gareth Southgate has plenty of positives to take away, ahead of the big test in Seville on Monday night.
FULL TIME: Croatia 0-0 England
Well, that was an event.
90 min +3: It’d have been nice to experience a goal met by total silence. But it looks like that box will remain unticked on the old bucket list. “If an England player scores I really hope they celebrate with a cupped hand around the ear,” wishes Damian Brown.
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90 min +1: There will be four added minutes. “Here’s your fairytale,” begins Ian Copestake, clearing his throat. “Once upon a time, a young man named Foden broke into the first team of the Premier League champions but could only stare aghast as some other young man playing in a less good league was elevated to the senior England squad ahead of him.” It probably needs another pass.
90 min: Sancho embarks on another skedaddle down the right. He’s got Pivaric on toast! He reaches the byline and floats a gorgeous looping cross towards Kane in the middle. It’s beaten Livakovic ... but it also beats Kane and then Barkley. Just a little bit too high. But what an impression Sancho has made already. We nearly had our fairytale!
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88 min: Sancho gives Pivaric a 15-yard head start in a footrace down the right. He wins. But his resulting cross isn’t so impressive. “Why not play this game at Wembley?” wonders Barry Webb. “Surely this would have been an equally appropriate punishment for Croatia and not have deprived England fans of watching the match. Plus all us poor devils watching a game like it’s being played in a London tube station.” Eduardo Paolozzi would approve of this stadium mosaic, it’s true.
86 min: Jedvaj slips between Rashford and Chilwell and into the England area on the right. His cutback reaches Kramaric, but the resulting shot, from the penalty spot, isn’t so hot. It’s easily hacked clear by Stones.
85 min: Chilwell probes down the left and nearly breaks clear, but clatters into Kramaric and the danger is over.
83 min: Kramaric spins past a couple of challenges and makes good down the middle. He flicks the ball to his right for Pjaca, who in turn nearly feeds Livaja. But Chilwell reads the danger well, and steps in to intercept.
82 min: Henderson, out on the left, chips into the Croatia box and very nearly finds the head of Sancho, who has come in from the other flank looking to write that aforementioned fairytale. Shame, but the cross is just a bit too high.
80 min: Croatia make their final change. Livaja replaces the hard-working striker Rebic.
79 min: Some more loose play by Maguire, who has been in a bit of a flap for most of the night. He gifts possession to Modric, who is extremely annoyed with himself by messing up a chance to release Kramaric down the middle. His immediate ball forward hits the back of his team-mate’s head. Slapstick nonsense all round.
78 min: Sterling makes way for the 18-year-old Borussia Dortmund sensation Jadon Sancho. Now then. Fairytale, please!
76 min: Kane’s jiggered the net with that shot. Some running repairs are being made. Knit one, purl one.
74 min: Badelj comes on for Kovacic. Modric has a pot-shot from distance, but Pickford is always claiming the bouncing ball. England go straight up the other end, Henderson finding Kane clear in the area with a pass slipped down the inside-right channel. Kane lashes a low shot into the bottom corner, but he’d gone too soon and is correctly flagged offside.
72 min: Sterling tries to barge his way past Kovacic, but drags his man to the ground. The whistle goes for a free kick. Sterling, boiling with frustration, hoofs the ball goalwards anyway. “How was that a foul?” he asks the ref, who responds by flashing the yellow card in his affronted face. To be fair to Sterling, there wasn’t a whole lot in the challenge, and he would have been clear had play been waved on, so you can understand his pique.
70 min: Rebic, on the left-hand edge of the England D, takes a touch inside to evade Henderson and curls hard towards the top right. It’s a fine effort, and Pickford thinks it might be going in. A panicked dive, but the ball sails past the right-hand post. That would have been a very pretty goal.
69 min: Pjaca comes on for Perisic.
67 min: Kovacic rolls a pass across the face of the England box from the left. Kramaric slices a first-time shot miles wide of the right-hand post. “It would be nice if the England team acknowledged their fans after the game by doing a lap of honour around the outside of the stadium,” suggests Ian Copestake. Yes, and seeing we’re compiling a wishlist, it’d also be good if, at some point, the fans on the hill broke into a knowing rendition of “This is a library” or a waggish chorus of “Your support is fucking shit”.
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65 min: Modric bursts down the right but turns tail quickly enough. The hosts haven’t seriously tested England at all tonight.
63 min: Now it’s England’s turn to hog the ball awhile, to little effect.
61 min: Croatia pass and probe, probe and pass. England hold their shape.
59 min: Jedvaj slides in on Dier. He’s late, and crumps his studs onto Dier’s instep. It could be a red, but the referee is lenient. Just a yellow. To be fair, it looked clumsy and accidental, and the player wasn’t out of control, though you have seen folk dismissed for that regardless. Dier didn’t make too much of it, either, which probably helped.
57 min: Rashford misses another one-on-one! Sterling slips him through the middle, and Rashford looks for the bottom right again. But he telegraphs his intentions by opening up his body, and his sidefooted effort is parried away from Livakovic. A good save, though it wasn’t a particularly good effort.
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55 min: Walker bursts down the right, barges through a couple of challenges, then curls a fine pass into the centre to release Rashford, who is one on one with Livakovic! The striker tries to guide the ball first time, back across the keeper and into the bottom right. But he doesn’t get any purchase on his effort whatsoever, a miserable waft falling softly into the keeper’s arms. What a chance!
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54 min: Corner for Croatia. Rebic, tight on the byline on the left, crosses to nobody in particular. A big Mario Mandzukic shaped hole.
52 min: The corner leads to another corner. Then Barkley dribbles into the area from the left. Rebic is behind him, and Barkley goes over. The few fans on the hill scream for a penalty, but Barkley doesn’t really complain, his appeal half-arsed. There didn’t seem to be much contact. Then Stones is booked for a late clip on Kramaric as Croatia try to break. He’ll miss the Spain game too.
51 min: England hit the woodwork again! A free kick for England out on the right. Henderson swings it in. Kane rises and heads for the top right. If it’s on target, it’s in, but it hits the bar and bounces back into the mixer. Dier guides the ball goalwards again, but Perisic heads off the line. Corner.
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49 min: Kramaric considers a shot from 20 yards, having been teed up nicely, the result of some fine work down the right by Modric and Rebic. But the ref gets in the way, so he checks and slides a ball to the left for Perisic, who unleashes a low diagonal screamer towards the bottom right. Pickford does very well to get down and parry to safety.
48 min: Pickford finds Barkley with a fine pass under pressure from Rebic. Barkley powers his way past three opponents and slides a pass wide for Walker, whose cutback is intercepted by Pivaric. But England are soon coming again, and Rashford has a look from distance. Nope.
46 min: Dier wedges a pass down the right wing. It’s overhit, but Walker gets to it anyway. However he can’t keep his cross in play. Goal kick.
And we’re off again! England get the second half underway. The small gathering of English fans up on the hill do their best to make themselves heard. No changes.
Half-time reading: And in other noise-related news ...
HALF TIME: Croatia 0-0 England
A couple of added seconds, the referee thinks “bugger this”, and blows up for half-time. Everyone mooches off, it’s been that sort of game. In the distance, the fans on the hill can be heard cheering and singing. It’s all decidedly psychedelic.
45 min: Lovren is booked for a galoot’s challenge on Sterling, who was hoping to make good down the left wing.
43 min: Rashford, fully recovered it seems, forces Pivaric into the concession of a corner on the right. Henderson takes. Dier ghosts in at the near post, guiding a header from the right-hand edge of the six-yard box across a flat-footed Livakovic and onto the left-hand post! The ball rebounds to safety. So unlucky; that was a delicious corner. A fine delivery and an almost perfect header. England once again showing their set-piece smarts.
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41 min: Rashford is accidentally poked in the eye by Perisic, and rolls around accordingly. He’s quickly up and about again.
39 min: “I’m quite enjoying the commentators, who seemingly think they’re commentating on golf or the snooker,” writes Andy Bradshaw. Yes, Sky’s Martin Tyler has indeed slipped into a Jazz Club register. Theydon Bois on guitar, Alan Smith on bass. Nice.
37 min: Perisic feeds Pivaric down the left. Pivaric cuts back for Kramaric on the penalty spot. Kramaric scuffs his first-time shot into the ground, the ball rearing up towards the top right. Pickford scuttles across well to claim easily.
35 min: Modric delivers. Dier heads clear. Rebic tries again. Maguire heads clear. “This atmosphere reminds me of Ireland home games at the tail end of the Trapattoni era,” hollers David Flynn.
34 min: Chilwell handles a Jedvaj flick down the right. A free kick in a dangerous position. Modric is over it.
32 min: Perisic plays a long ball down the middle. Pickford comes out to the edge of his area to collect. Perfect timing, because Rebic was hovering, inches away.
30 min: Henderson slips a fine ball down the right for Walker, who tries to flick the ball inside for Kane at the near post. But a combination of Perisic and Vida bustles the ball out for a corner. Lovren clears the set piece. “Having no audience for such games seems a perfectly pragmatic reflection of their importance and should definitely be encouraged.” The flawless logic of Ian Copestake there.
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28 min: The random mosaic formed by the empty seats is quite tasteful. Predominantly sky blue and white, with spots of black, burgundy and mustard. I can only work with what I’ve got.
26 min: Chilwell takes the set piece. He looks for Maguire at the far post, but his diagonal ball is once again too heavy and it’s ushered out of play for a goal kick.
24 min: Kovacic is rightly booked for coming through the back of Rashford. This’ll be a free kick 30 yards from goal, just to the left of centre.
22 min: “Do you reckon they’ll do an official attendance announcement?” wonders Adam Kline-Schoder. “I, for one, would love that.” Count me in, too. That would be marvellously arch.
20 min: Rebic sends a clip over the bar from distance. And in that distance ... a few England fans, who have parked themselves atop a hill near the stadium. These good people, maybe?
19 min: ... Perisic shoots. It’s blocked.
18 min: Vida channels his inner Beckenbauer and bursts down the middle with much elan. He evades three desperate England challenges, flicks the ball right for Rebic, and keeps going. If he gets the return, he’s in, but Rebic fluffs the chance. However the move leads to a corner on the right. From which ...
16 min: Perisic and Rebic apply some pressure to Maguire on the edge of the England box. Maguire’s legs dance independently, a terrible struggle, and Rebic takes the ball off him and flicks it down the left. But Perisic has gone too early and the flag saves England.
15 min: Maguire sticks out a clumsy leg and brings down Rebic. The referee gives him a good talking to. Modric is over the free kick; Dier nuts that one clear. After an understandably slow start, this match has come to life ... a little.
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14 min: Kane sashays in from the right and is upended by Rebic. Free kick for England in a central position. Too far out for a shot, but a chance to load the box. However England make a proper mess of the opportunity, shifting the ball left for Chilwell, whose attempt to locate Stones in the area flies harmlessly out for a goal kick.
12 min: Maguire sends a long pass down the left for his club team-mate Chilwell, who is in acres. The young left-back rolls a fine ball across the face of the Croatian goal. Sterling bombs in with a view to sidefooting home from close range, but Pivaric does extremely well to get in the way and hook clear. That was a nice smooth English move.
10 min: “At least there is no England band,” notes Ruth Purdue. Ha, yes. Every cloud.
8 min: There are spa retreats more noisy than this. I feel like I’ve got a head cold. Could they not pipe in some crowd noise, for the purposes of verisimilitude? The one time intrusive PA commotion would be actually welcome, and they don’t bother to turn it on.
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6 min: Henderson is booked for a tug on Rakitic. He’ll not play in Spain, having been booked against the Spanish at Wembley. Jurgen Klopp will be happy.
4 min: England look the more sprightly in the early exchanges. They’re bossing possession. Chilwell has a look down the left but he can’t get past Jedvaj.
2 min: This is going to take some getting used to. A real training-ground atmosphere. And a start to match. Now it’s England’s turn to launch it, but Henderson, the furthest man forward, can’t take it down on the edge of the Croatian box.
And so tonight’s metaphysical experiment begins! If a tree falls football match is staged in front of no fans, does it really take place? At least you can hear the ref’s whistle. Croatia kick off and launch it long. They’re playing in second-choice black; England are in their famous white shirts.
It’s very eerie. A polite smattering of applause from the few folk who have been allowed into the stadium. The PA blasts out some music. If you ever needed proof that it’s the fans who generate the atmosphere at football - plenty of folk who run the game clearly do - here it is. This is bloody odd.
The players take to the field, and it’s time for the national anthems. Croatia first, so let’s kick back and enjoy the relaxing, ultramarine charms of Lijepa naša domovino. ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ Our beautiful homeland / O so fearless and gracious / Our fathers’ ancient glory / May you be happy forever ... Drava, Sava, keep on flowing! / Danube, do not lose your vigour! / Deep blue sea, tell the world / That a Croat loves his people! ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯
And now a suggestion for a new English anthem. Just in case Brexit doesn’t go so well. RIP Ray Galton.
Gareth Southgate on England’s new 4-3-3 system: “We think it’s time for the team to evolve a bit. 3-5-2 has been fantastic for us, we maximised the talents of the players across the summer. But in a couple of the matches against the better teams, we’ve suffered a bit without the ball. So we want to look at a back four, and think it suits the players we’re playing tonight. It still gives us the opportunity to move the ball and be a threat, but hopefully will cover the spaces that were a bit of a problem in the last couple of games. We have to make sure it doesn’t take away anything. Our build-up play has been good, we can still find solutions with the ball. That won’t be exactly the same, but we’ve got to make sure we continue to pass the ball out from the back. Without the ball, it gives us a better chance to get up against their midfield, to press higher up the pitch, and not allow them so much time. In most simple terms, we cover the pitch better. I want to see how it works tonight. We have options, and we have to be flexible.”
Tonight’s match programme has been printed and delivered! But who are they going to sell them to? This match is being played behind closed doors, punishment for Croatian fans scratching out a swastika on the pitch during the Euro 2016 qualifiers. Mind you, the place will be teeming with Uefa and FA delegates, so I suppose you need something to put into their goody bags.
Luka Modric, the architect of England’s downfall in Moscow and the best player at the World Cup, captains the hosts. There are five changes to the team Croatia named in the World Cup semi. Dominik Livakovic, Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric, Tin Jedvaj and Josip Pivaric replace the departed Danijel Subasic, Sime Vrsaljko, Marcelo Brozovic, Mario Mandzukic and Ivan Strinic.
Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell makes his first start for England, following the withdrawals of Danny Rose and Luke Shaw. Meanwhile Ross Barkley makes his first England appearance in 868 days. There are five other changes to the team that beat Switzerland 1-0 last month. Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling all return.
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The teams
Croatia: Livakovic, Jedvaj, Lovren, Vida, Pivaric, Kovacic, Rakitic, Kramaric, Modric, Perisic, Rebic.
Subs: Rog, Badelj, Bradaric, Sluga, Pjaca, Mitrovic, Milic, Santini, Pasalic, Livaja, Bartolec.
England: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell, Barkley, Henderson, Dier, Kane, Sterling, Rashford.
Subs: Butland, Trippier, Alexander-Arnold, Dunk, Gomez, Winks, Chalobah, Mount, Maddison, Bettinelli, Sancho.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
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Preamble
It’s probably fair to say that this Nations League business hasn’t quite caught the collective imagination yet. But an early threat of relegation should concentrate a few minds.
Gareth Southgate’s side have played one match in League A, Group 4 so far. In it, they were beaten 2-1 at home by Spain. The Spanish then knocked the third team in this group, Croatia, for six. Now England face two difficult away fixtures in four days, in Rijeka and Seville. If they don’t get something tonight, or on Monday evening, they’ll be staring down the barrel of League B football in two years’ time.
So this is already a big one. To be fair, it would have been a biggie anyway, on account of Croatia’s victory over England in the semi-finals of the World Cup. But Uefa’s new confection gives tonight’s match an added frisson. Will it provide some payback for England, who won 5-1 on their last visit to Croatia in 2009, Theo Walcott, all that? Or will the hosts level up the all-time record between these two countries, at four wins apiece, by wresting control of the midfield like they did at the Luzhniki? It’s Group 4! Of Nations League A! Behind closed doors! It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm BST, 8.45pm in Croatia.
