Barry aims to avenge Croatian misery

September 7, 2009

England midfielder Gareth Barry admits he is desperate to make amends for the lowest moment of his career by helping Fabio Capello’s side secure their World Cup place with victory over Croatia on Wednesday.

Barry was part of the England team who missed out on Euro 2008 after Croatia won 3-2 at Wembley 22 months ago, but the Manchester City star is confident Slaven Bilic’s men will find it much harder in London this time.

Last time, in November 2007, Steve McClaren’s England needed just a draw to qualify for the European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland but they fell apart in dismal fashion.

McClaren was sacked soon after and Capello took over. The Italian has quickly got England back on track and they can book their trip to next year’s World Cup in South Africa with a victory over the Croatians after winning all seven of their qualifiers.

“Everyone wants to put it to bed on Wednesday and get across the line,” said midfielder Barry, who moved from Aston Villa to Manchester City during the close-season and has been ever-present under Capello.

“A lot of players in our dressing room won’t forget that night at Wembley two years ago. There will be a few memories. But it’s a different manager and a different team now and although that might be in the back of our minds we’ll be confident we can do it this time.

“Like many others the last home match against Croatia was the lowest point of my career – being on the verge of qualifying for a championships and then all of a sudden it’s taken away from you.

“It’s not a nice feeling. This is England we’re talking about and we need to be part of these tournaments. But we can put that right on Wednesday.”

England have already gained some element of revenge by beating Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb earlier in the qualifying campaign thanks to a remarkable performance from hat-trick star Theo Walcott.

And although Walcott is unavailable for the return game because of injury there is a real sense of belief in the England squad these days.

Barry added: “We played some of our best football under this manager in Zagreb and it set us up nicely for the rest of the campaign.

“We’ve come a long way, really if you look at the results. They have all been positive, especially in competitive games and the manager knows that’s what we’ll all be judged on.”

Barry does have one word of caution for his England team-mates, however, as they prepare for a match that is likely to have something of an edge about it following previous encounters.

Croatia, too, are looking for revenge following that rare defeat in Zagreb and are still seething over the way Tottenham’s Luka Modric was ruled out of the tie after being injured in a Premier League game – just as Eduardo had been in the past.

Barry said: “In the away game I think we found out they will fire into challenges and try and make it tough but I’m sure we?ll talk about keeping our heads and keeping 11 players on the pitch.

“I think discipline was a massive thing out in Croatia and it will be big again on Wednesday. But this game is completely different. They know we can qualify on the night and the pressure is on them.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: city star, croatians, dressing room, england squad, england team, euro 2008, fabio capello, Gareth Barry, home match, manchester city, midfielder, nice feeling, remarkable performance, return game, theo walcott, this is england, verge, Wembley

Salzburg victorious at Dinamo Zagreb

August 5, 2009

Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg secured a spot in the final qualification round of the UEFA Champions League, thanks to a 1-2 victory at Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.

After a 1-1 result in the first leg, Red Bull took the lead through Dusan Svento in the 33rd minute.

The Croatians levelled with a goal from Dimitrios Papadopoulos in the 47th minute and for a long time it looked like the two sides were heading for extra time.

But the Austrians had the final say at Zagreb’s Maksimir stadium as Dutch forward Robin Nelisse scored the decider with just seven minutes to play.

Jonathan Roorda

Tags: austrians, croatians, decider, Dimitrios, extra time, goal, long time, maksimir stadium, papadopoulos, red bull, Robin, Salzburg, Tuesday, uefa, UEFA Champions League, victory, Zagreb

Seol caps Fulham victory, Euro ties marred by violence

July 31, 2009

South Korea international Seol Ki-Hyeon scored the crucial third goal as Fulham defeated Lithuanian side Vetra 3-0 in Vilnius on Thursday in the Europa League third qualifying round first leg tie.

Seol was introduced by coach Roy Hodgson as a late substitute, along with new signing Bjorn Helge Riise, and the Korean made an immediate impact when he scored with a superb strike from the edge of the area after 85 minutes.

Bobby Zamora scored the opener for Fulham, who are playing in Europe for the first time since 2002, on the stroke of half-time.

Zamora turned down a summer move to Premier League rivals Hull earlier in the summer and he showed his importance to the Londoners with a 44th-minute strike from a Danny Murphy pass.

Murphy added the second from the penalty spot in the 56th minute after Zamora had been fouled in the area.

Seol then added the third to make Fulham comfortable favourites to progress when the second leg takes place at Craven Cottage next week.

Two ties, meanwhile, were overshadowed by violence.

In Denmark, 111 fans were arrested in the Danish town of Brondy before the home team’s clash with Legia Warsaw.

Police used teargas to break up fighting between the two sets of fans before kick-off in the match which ended 1-1.

Dozens of Croatian fans and eight Slovak policemen were injured in the northern Slovakian town of Zilina where the home team were facing Hajduk Split.

Around 500 Croatian fans threw stones at police and broke shopwindows in the town as they tried to sneak into the stadium.

The police detained 120 Croatians, police spokeswoman Jana Balogova said.

PARIS (AFP)

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Bilic warns Croatis as Ukraine come calling

June 5, 2009

ZAGREB (AFP) – Croatia coach Slaven Bilic on Friday stressed that his team had to win Saturday’s qualifier at home to Ukraine or risk missing out on the World Cup finals.

The Croatians have been facing a major challenge to get out of Group Six ever since they were humbled 4-1 on their own soil last September by an England side inspired by Theo Walcott’s hat-trick exploits.

With England now five points clear and still to host Croatia, Bilic says less than three points would be a failure as Saturday’s rivals themselves are still in the frame three points further back but with a game in hand.

“If we draw or if we lose against Ukraine, our chances of qualification will be slim,” said Bilic.

“We will have to win all the remaining matches, including the one at Wembley” in September, Bilic forecast.

“Right now you couldn’t get a more important showdown than tomorrow’s – but even a win won’t mean we are through.

“We are well prepared and very motivated – but we respect what is a great rival,” he told Jutarnji List newspaper.