England Euro hopes ended by Croatia

By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - England's hopes of a place in the Euro 2008 finals disappeared at Wembley on Wednesday when they lost 3-2 to Croatia after fighting back from conceding two early goals to pull level at 2-2.

Instead of hanging on to the point that would have secured their place in Austria and Switzerland, they conceded a third goal 13 minutes from time, allowing Russia to steal into second place in Group E and qualify with Croatia.

It will be the first time since 1984 that England miss out on the European Championship finals and the first time since the 1994 World Cup that they have failed to qualify for a major tournament -- putting the future of coach Steve McClaren in doubt.

Former England captain David Beckham, a second-half substitute, said: "This is a big setback, not just for the players but the nation...We have to show the English way which is to fight back."

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said: "We are simply a much better team, tonight we were the better team."

The home crowd was stunned after eight minutes when Scott Carson, controversially chosen in goal after making his debut in a friendly only last week, allowed a speculative shot by Niko Kranjcar to skid off him and into the net, and it looked all over when Ivica Olic doubled the lead six minutes later.

England pulled level with a 56th-minute Frank Lampard penalty followed by a great goal by striker Peter Crouch, who expertly controlled a cross from halftime substitute Beckham before volleying the equaliser.

Croatia, though, continued to look dangerous and won it in the 77th-minute when substitute Mladen Petric lashed in a shot from the edge of the box.