England beats Croatia 5-1 to clinch spot in FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals – Recap and Video Highlights
The UEFA World Cup Qualifying had another set of matches on Wednesday with one of the marquee matches, England v Croatia. England were playing at home in front of a packed Wembley Stadium with a chance to clinch first place in the group and a spot in next summer’s FIFA 2010 World Cup. Here’s a recap of the match along with video highlights.
England beats 5-1 Croatia to clinch spot in FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals – Video Highlights
England started out strong as they scored two goals in the first 20 minutes and never looked back. The home side looked confident all night and got the lead early as Aaron Lennon earned a penalty kick. Frank Lampard, who’s been solid on penalties for England, converted the penalty as they took the lead 1-0. Croatia threatened at times but it seemed a tall task for them to pull out a win or draw in front of a sold out Wembley Stadium crowd. It was only 10 minutes later in the 18th minute when England scored again as Lennon once again helped setup the goal. He sent in a cross to the far post to a wide open Steven Gerrard who headed it past the goalkeeper for a 2-0 England lead.
Even though they were down 0-2 after only 20 minutes, Croatia continued to battle in the first half. England had most of the most chances and continued to attack after the early goals. In the 35th minute, Lennon nearly got his first goal of the night as a through ball was played to him as he got behind the defense but the goalkeeper came out to make a nice save. Lennon was arguably the most dangerous player for England in the first half as he had a hand in both early goals and his speed gave the Croatian defense all sorts of trouble.
The first half would end at 2-0 for England but they nearly add one or two more. Lennon’s chance could have been a goal, Heskey had a great chance he just missed, and Lampard also had a shot late that he mishit. Overall, it was a solid performance from England in the first half as they were well on their way to earning a spot in South Africa next summer.
The second half was more of the same as England continued to get chances and would add to their lead as Frank Lampard scored his second of the night in the 59th minute. Glen Johnson sent a pass to Lampard who headed it past the goalkeeper as the home team was in full control of the match. Not long after Lampard’s goal, Gerrard added his second of the night as England made it 4-0 before the 70th minute mark. A through ball for Rooney was sent to the far post as Gerrard ran onto it and headed it past the goalkeeper. It was nice setup by Rooney and clinical finish from Gerrard.
Croatia was able to get one back not long after Gerrard’s goal as the England defense temporarily let down. A cross into the box by the away side was saved by England goalkeeper Green but the rebound was kept alive and eventually feel to Eduardo who scored from right in front of the goal. It was poor defending and one of the few mistakes England made all night.
While Croatia temporarily had some momentum, England extended their lead back to four goals as Rooney scored is his first on the night. It was a poor clearance from the goalkeeper that went right to Rooney at the edge of the box as he easily shot it immediately into the back of the net to make it 5-1 England. The final minutes of the match saw England slow the match down result was never in doubt after the first 20 minutes. England won the match 5-1 to clinch their spot in the FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa next summer.
| MATCH STATS | ||
| England | Croatia | |
| Shots (on Goal) | 10(8) | 10(6) |
| Fouls | 14 | 8 |
| Corner Kicks | 2 | 3 |
| Offsides | 8 | 4 |
| Time of Possession | 53% | 47% |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Saves | 5 | 5 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | |
| England | Croatia |
Frank Lampard (pen  |
Eduardo (73) |
| Steven Gerrard (18) | |
| Frank Lampard (59) | |
| Steven Gerrard (66) | |
| Wayne Rooney (77) | |
