Here are all five goals from England’s 4-1 victory against Croatia, including Theo Walcott’s hat-trick:

England Croatia Video Highlights - World Soccer Talk

England Croatia Video Highlights

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England’s away match today against Croatia is massive for several reasons. First, a loss against Croatia will be a huge blow to England’s hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Second, a loss would put immense pressure under Fabio Capello. Third, if England can secure a draw or a win, it’ll be a huge boost of confidence to a team and a nation that haven’t had much to cheer about in so long.
The irony is that most football fans in England and the United States won’t be able to see the big match live unless they’re willing to fork over some sizeable cash to Setanta Sports or In Demand.
Here are some of today’s matches to enjoy:
<ul>
<li>Russia vs Wales, 11am ET/4pm UK (Fox Soccer Channel)</li>
<li>Turkey vs Belgium, 2pm ET/7pm UK time (Setanta US)</li>
<li>Macedonia vs Holland, 2:30pm ET/7:30pm UK time (Fox Soccer Channel)</li>
<li>Croatia v England, 3pm ET/8pm UK time (Pay-per-view and Setanta pub channel)</li>
<li>Italy vs Georgia, 2:45pm ET/7:45pm UK time (GolTV)</li>
<li>Portugal vs Denmark, 4pm ET/9pm UK time (Setanta US)</li>
<li>Spain vs Armenia, 4:50pm ET/9:50pm UK time (GolTV)</li>
<li>Slovenia vs Slovakia, 5pm ET/10pm UK time (Fox Soccer Channel)</li>
<li>France vs Serbia, 6:45pm ET/11:45pm UK time (Setanta US)</li>
<li>USA v Trinidad &amp; Tobago, 8pm ET/1am UK time (ESPN2)</li>
<li>Uzbekistan v Australia, 8pm ET/1am UK time (Fox Soccer Channel)</li>
<li>Finland v Germany, 8:45pm ET/1:45am UK time (Setanta US)</li>
<li>Mexico v Canada, 9pm ET/2am ET UK time (Telemundo)</li>
</ul>
If you’ll be watching – or have watched – today’s matches, please share your thoughts, insight, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of U.S. soccer, be sure to head on over to <a href="http:\/\/www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com" target="_blank">Major League Soccer Talk</a> for a special live chat tonight at 8pm ET featuring the United States against Trinidad and Tobago.

World Cup Qualifying: Your Running Commentary - World Soccer Talk

World Cup Qualifying: Your Running Commentary

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For once, the Brits know how it feels to be American. That is, they know how difficult it is to watch England play football on TV.
With the TV rights for England in Britain going to Setanta Sports, most Englanders didn’t see the two nil win against Andorra on Saturday. The same will apply to the essential England match against Croatia, which is again available only on Setanta in the UK.
In the United States, it’s always been difficult to see meaningful England games on television. Last Saturday’s debacle against Andorra was only available on pay-per-view (for $25), in pubs showing Setanta (for a $20 cover charge) and on Setanta Broadband (if you have an annual contract for $150).
If you live in the States, Wednesday’s match against Croatia is available again on <a href="http:\/\/www.indemand.com/product/view/95720" target="_blank">pay-per-view</a> or in pubs that show the Setanta pub channel.
Or, of course, there’s half a dozen illegal ways to watch the match. In England, Setanta’s unwillingness to provide highlights of the Croatia against England match is only going to increase the demand for ways to watch it illegally — streams, P2P players and a ton of video sites.
The same thing applies to football fans in America. It’s bloody 2008. Forcing fans to pay $25 to watch one match is archaic. Very few fans are willing to spend that much cash when international matches are becoming less exciting than club football.

England Football Fans Shut Out On Both Sides Of The Atlantic - World Soccer Talk

England Football Fans Shut Out On Both Sides Of The Atlantic

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>First of all, let me say what a super performance Germany gave last night. They tactically outclassed Portugal from the get go and thoroughly deserved their win. Anyway, enough of yesterday, now for today’s big clash. Before yesterday, I’d have put my house on Croatia winning this game, now I’m not so sure I don’t have a niggle like yesterday but Turkey have shown you write them off at your peril. The Croats have played some excellent stuff in this tournament but Turkey have shown tremendous nous and spirit to come back from the dead in two straight games.
Realistically though, Croatia started slowly but have begun to improve game on game, their second string beating Poland 1-0 with a goal from Klasnic and I honestly think that Luka Modric has been one of the star players at this tournament so far. Turkey need to get a man marker on him and try to stifle his creativity. Having said that though, Germany put Frings on him and he danced around him like a statue. Turkey’s danger man is Turan; he loves to come from deep and attack the ball, playing off Nihat and Tuncay. Will Croatia go like for like or simply get the ball down and try and play their way through? Turkey have also lost first choice keeper Voltan after Jan Koller’s acrobatics, so Rustu Recber comes in for his for his record extending 117th cap tonight and the former Barcelona player will be keen to show he’s lost none of his abilities at 35 years of age.
Turkey have shown us all that they&nbsp;are a fast breaking team who&nbsp;play&nbsp;positive, possession&nbsp;football.&nbsp;Both sides have shown that they like to play good attacking football and play with pride for their nations. It is a lesson England would do well to try and emulate in future under Capello. The British press&nbsp;are complaining that this is the weakest of the 4 games but I’m disappointed to hear that type of criticism. Then again, the commentary in last night’s Portugal v Germany game was so biased toward Portugal as&nbsp;to be embarrassing, Ronaldo’s personal fan club defending his every action, slating every German challenge on him and then&nbsp;they didn’t bother interviewing any German players at the end&nbsp;which was really sad to see.&nbsp;Old habits die hard in British football coverage even in 2008.
Both sides fully deserve to be here and I think we’ll get a great game of football. Using my head, I’m going for a Croatian win, maybe 3-2 or 2-1, but if Turkey get a late goal, hold on tight because we’ll get a grandstand finish.

Euro 2008 Croatia v Turkey Preview &amp; Prediction - World Soccer Talk

Euro 2008 Croatia v Turkey Preview & Prediction

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Group B will come to the end tonight and every team has a chance to join Croatia in the Quarter Finals. Austria need to beat Germany and hope that Poland do not beat Croatia by a bigger winning margin to have a chance to qualify but they’ll be up against it. Austria’s last competitive win against Germany was in the 1978 World Cup, so history is certainly on the side of Germany tonight.
The home crowd will be willing Austria on and after last night’s amazing events, anything is possible. Germany are missing Jansen, so it looks like Lahm will move to left back allowing Low to choose between Borowski and Hitzlsperger to come into midfield and Fritz to drop back to&nbsp;right back. Doubts are also being raised over the disappointing Mario Gomez keeping his starting place up front with Klose. I’d heard a lot about Gomez before the tournament began but he’s hardly offered anything to the Germans so far&nbsp;and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him dropped. Can Austria cause the biggest shock of the tournament so far? It would be fantastic for the tournament but it looks doubtful. I can see the Germans at least holding on to the draw they need to progress to the next round.
Poland however need to pick themselves off the floor after conceding a last minute equaliser to Austria. <div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" border="0" align="right" width="220" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20080616_WST_2393_520096_mediumsquare.webp&amp;width=220&amp;height=220" height="220"></figure></div>Coach Leo Beenhakker joked in his press conference that Croatia would need to play Slaven Bilic’s mum for Poland to have any chance of qualifying but he was very downbeat and doesn’t expect his side to win at all. Is it all reverse psychology?
Bilic can relax, knowing that his boys are through to play Turkey and may rest the 6 first teamers who are on yellow cards and this could give us the chance to see Ivan Klasnic. If you’re not aware of Klasnic’s recent history, it’ll be one of those life affirming moments to see him play tonight after a double kidney transplant at the beginning of last year.
This evening may see a similar result to the Switzerland v Portugal game last night as weakened side go through the motions rather than push for results, but they may also want to impress Bilic that they deserve to start the Quarter Final too. This one could go either way, but I think it may simply peter out into a draw that won’t help Poland.

Euro 2008 Group B Final Match Preview &amp; Predictions - World Soccer Talk

Euro 2008 Group B Final Match Preview & Predictions

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>I’ve finally had a chance to catch up on watching some of the Euro 2008 matches I missed. The jet lag hit me later in the week, so I found myself watching many of the games this week at weird hours on DVR.The one thing about football is that it can be so subjective. Earlier in the week, I found myself watching the 1-0 Croatia win against Austria game on the giant screen TV at the FanZone in Zurich. To me, Croatia looked like a very hard working team in the first half who were playing some wonderful football. Especially impressive was Ivica Olic, the Croat striker who plays for Hamburg, who was a workhouse throughout the game putting in an incredible performance. If ever there was a player who would do well in the Premier League, Olic is it.In their game against Austria, Croatia changed their tactics in the second half, which allowed Austria to press forward more. And it was the Austrians who impressed me, putting to bed all the fears about them being the worst team in the tournament.So I was surprised when I returned to the States and was hearing and reading the comments about Croatia looking weak in their first match. Against Germany, the Croats showed their true strength in their 2-1 win and it’s now Germany — many people’s favorites to win Euro 2008 — who risk getting knocked out of the tournament depending what happens in their final match against Austria.The other thing I found surprising when I returned to the States was the perception among many that this has been a boring tournament thus far. Sure, it’s easier to enjoy the atmosphere and games when you’re experiencing them in Switzerland, but still, the tournament to me has been one of the most exciting football events in quite some time, even more so than World Cup 2006. The France against Romania nil-nil match was horrible, but aside from that, I’ve enjoyed all of the other matches.Speaking of Romania, their 1-1 draw against Italy on Friday was a brilliant match to watch. So much goalmouth action with balls hitting the post or goalkeepers pulling off incredible saves. Buffon’s penalty save, too, was amazing to watch. Romania could have easily won the match in the first half, while Italy showed in this game their masterful technical touches — beautiful flicks, excellent ball control, deft passes and wonderful creativity — something which is desperately lacking in the Premier League and on the England national team.Italy, though, has to feel cheated by the goal that was ruled offside. On replay, it’s clear that the goal should have counted. But when I watched it in real-time, it looked to me to be offside, so I empathize why the referee and assistant referee thought the whistle should have been blown for offside.I’ve been writing about how impressed I’ve been about Holland since Monday and they completely blew me away again on Friday with their 4-1 win against France. In fairness, the French are to blame for this scoreline as they had plenty of chances to score. Just as in the match against Italy, the Dutch took full advantage of the chances they had with their clinical finishing.While Holland and Croatia continue to impress, Portugal can be added to that list. In their first game against Turkey, I thought the Portugese looked very entertaining with Pepe, especially, being a revelation. Portugal also looked breathtaking in the 3-1 win over Czech Republic. So far this tournament, the Czechs have done very little to impress me.For all of the bad press Austria got from the pundits and their own fans before the tournament started, I’ve been more impressed by the Austrians than Switzerland. Austria deserved to get the 1-1 draw against Poland earlier this week, and the penalty decision by Howard Webb, I believe, was a correct one.Speaking of Switzerland, the national team was dealt a cruel blow when Alex Frei was injured in their 0-1 loss to Czech Republic. But in the Swiss 2-1 loss to Turkey, it was Turkey’s Arda Turan who was the relevation. The Galatasaray winger scored two beautiful goals. The first, a beautifully taken header, and the second was an amazing shot in the last minute of the game, which will be one of the goals of the tournament.The one group I haven’t had a chance to watch so far this tournament is Group D because I was traveling throughout the day on Tuesday and missed Spain‘s demolition of Russia and the entertaining game between Sweden and Greece. I’m looking forward to seeing those matches on Saturday.

Euro 2008: Better Than World Cup 2006 So Far - World Soccer Talk

Euro 2008: Better Than World Cup 2006 So Far

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Group B throws us another tantalising opening game this evening as Croatia entertain Germany.
A win for either side will see them join Portugal in the last eight and after the performances on Sunday, Germany will be strong favourites to do so. Yet, Croatia are a team that have shown over the last 12 months that you underestimate them at your peril or you are a tactical moron in charge of England called Steve.
Podolski was in fine form in the clash with Poland and will be looking to add to his two goals. They were extremely impressive against the Poles and will be very confident of gaining the 3 points today. Modric will be key for Croatia today and Olic needs to put in a better performance up front for them.&nbsp;I however think Croatia may match&nbsp;Germany today&nbsp;and they’ll be keen to improve on the lacklustre performance against Austria. Can they repeat their great win from the 1998 World Cup? I doubt it, but I think it’ll be a 2-2 draw.
<div><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" border="0" align="right" width="188" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20080612_WST_2356_beenhakker_596129.webp&amp;width=188&amp;height=250" height="250"></figure></div>This evening’s game sees Austria meet Poland. After Switzerland exited the competition last night, the Austrians will be keen to give themselves a chance of qualification but so will Poland. Austria certainly gave a good account of themselves and will perhaps feel unlucky they haven’t got a point to show for all their efforts in the clash with Croatia.
Poland will also want to get some points on the board and show us that they have the quality to get through to the last game with something to play for. Guerreiro looked really good when he came on and Poland certainly seemed to have a little but more flair with him on the pitch. If he links well&nbsp;with Smolarek, they will come good.
It’ll be crucial that Poland get him on the ball early in the game to get at Austria. &nbsp;I’m fancying a Polish win tonight, Beenhakker will be crucial in getting the Poles fired up for this clash and I feel they’ll have a little bit too much for Austria to cope with. That said, I going for a 2-1 for the Poles.

Euro 2008 Group B Match Predictions: June 12, 2008 - World Soccer Talk

Euro 2008 Group B Match Predictions: June 12, 2008

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Before this tournament started a lot of people had Croatia down as their dark horses to cause a major upset in the European Championships and who cold blame them after Slaven Bilic’s side came through a tough qualifying group to make it to this years competition. But having watched them struggle to overcome Austria last night my faith in the Croats to cause any kind of upset has slowly drained away.
Their performance last night was far from impressive having hung on for the majority of the second half against a team who are ranked below Mozambique in the FIFA rankings. Take nothing away from Austria though who gave it everything and with a bit more luck could have easily taken a point from a game which after the first 15 minutes I thought the Austrian’s where going to be steamrollered. The Croatia we saw briefly at the beginning of the first half was the side that so many pundits had placed as their possibly side to upset the apple cart. They played the balls to feet quickly and where constantly going forward and causing the Austrian defence all kinds of problems. The likes of Luka Modric and Daniel Srna looked lively and much of Croatia’s play went through them. The major weakness that the Croats face is a lack of goals now they have lost Eduardo who managed to net 10 in qualifying for this tournament. This lack of threat really showed last night as Ivica Olic and Mladen Petric worked hard for the cause but never really threatened, the sight of Petric blazing a golden opportunity into the crowd in the first half could be a sign of things to come.
In fact having watched Croatia again since they beat England back in October I am now very worried that my pick for the Euros will struggle to get past the group stages. With the Germans coming up next a point will be vital if they hope to go into the last game ahead of Poland who I expect to dispatch Austria. But the chances of Croatia getting anything from that game could well have dried up. Germany looked pretty good last night and should have put at least three past the Poles, Mario Gomez more guilty than most of wasting chances. If the Germans click into gear against Croatia then the Balkan country could be in for a long and nervy night. <a href="http:\/\/betting.betfair.com/football/euro-2008/" target="_blank">Click here for the last Euro 2008 odds</a> for Croatia Vs Germany or any of the games taking place in the competition.
That said I’m sure Bilic will have his troops fired up for their encounter with the Germans on Thursday and as the BBC have pointed out Croatia are slow starters when it comes to major tournaments. In fact its fairly impressive that Croatia have a team at the Euros at all being the smallest country in the tournament in terms of population with just 4.4million residing their. It puts to shame the likes of England who failed to qualify with all their money and facilities when you compare them with what Croatia have to go on. Bilic is paid just £35,000-a-year to manage the side, an amount which some English footballers earn in a few days. From having seen the side play and read about them on the internet there is certainly a large amount of pride involved with playing for the national side, something which a few sides lack. Last week Ronald de Boer claimed that the Dutch side lacked the pride required to pull on the orange shirt. It’s also plain to see that some of the England players don’t take much honour in supporting the three lions on their chest, for them its just another means to increase their profile.
That’s why I went for Croatia before the tournament started, the way in which they showed up England in qualifying was a sight to behold, especially the 3-2 victory at Wembley. Whilst most English fans believe that their side deserves to be there it was Croatia who earned the right to play at this summer’s tournament. Despite the doubts cast by the side with their performance last night I believe that if they can get themselves together for the next game against Germany then they will give the favourites a run for their money and possibly maintain their tag of dark horses, although that is easier said than done.
Good luck with you <a href="http:\/\/betting.betfair.com/football/" target="_blank">football betting</a> and enjoy the tournament.

Croatia no longer the Dark Horses of Euro 2008? - World Soccer Talk

Croatia no longer the Dark Horses of Euro 2008?

Latest news from Croatia. Find out about all the news related to Croatia on worldsoccertalk.com

ALL POSTS TAGGED "Croatia - Page 5"

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England Croatia Video Highlights

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World Cup Qualifying: Your Running Commentary

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England Football Fans Shut Out On Both Sides Of The Atlantic

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Euro 2008 Croatia v Turkey Preview & Prediction

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Euro 2008 Group B Final Match Preview & Predictions

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Euro 2008: Better Than World Cup 2006 So Far

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Euro 2008 Group B Match Predictions: June 12, 2008

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Croatia no longer the Dark Horses of Euro 2008?