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Scott Carson

LONDON - England will miss next year’s European championship in a huge embarrassment to the nation that invented modern soccer.

Needing only a tie at home in its final qualifier, England allowed two quick goals, got an equalizer off David Beckham’s cross and then lost to Croatia 3-2 Wednesday night.

It’s the first major tournament England will miss since the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., and is likely to lead to the departure of coach Steve McClaren, who benched Beckham for the first half and started a relatively untested goalkeeper, whose blunder on his first touch led to the game’s first goal.

McClaren, much criticized since replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson, is unlikely to stay on - Graham Taylor quit six days after England failed to qualify for the ‘94 World Cup.

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Russia (7-2-3), in a game played simultaneously, won 1-0 at Andorra on Dmitry Sychev’s goal in the 39th minute to climb one point ahead of the English (7-3-2) and finish second to Croatia (9-1-2) in Group E.

Niko Kranjcar, Ivica Olic put Croatia ahead 2-0 in the first 14 minutes, but Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch scored in the second half to tie it. Mladen Petric got the goal that knocked out the English in the 77th minute, eight minutes after he entered the match.

England, eliminated in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup in Germany, was missing Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and John Terry because of injuries, and they watched from their team dugout. They came on the field after the final whistle to support their teammates, but McClaren went straight down the tunnel.

Beckham, Lampard and Gerrard, all visibly upset, stayed for a while on the field, acknowledging the crowd as Croatia’s players celebrated in front of their cheering fans.

The English, whose qualification chances dwindled when they wasted a second-half lead and lost at Russia last month, had been given new hope when Russia was beaten at Israel last weekend. But playing against a team that already clinched a berth in the 16-nation field, England failed to take advantage.

With Beckham on the bench, the English fell behind when Kranjcar’s 25-yard shot dipped, bounced off the field and went into the net off an arm of goalkeeper Scott Carson, who made his international debut last week. McClaren used Carson in place of Paul Robinson, whose play has been shaky of late, and started Shaun Wright-Phillips ahead of Beckham in an effort to inject speed.

Olic made it 2-0 in the 14th minute, beating an offside trap, taking a pass from Eduardo da Silva and going around Carson before putting the ball into a corner of the net.

Beckham entered at the start of the second half in his 99th international appearance, and Jermaine Defoe came on to add offence, moves that brought cheers from fans who had jeered at halftime.

Lampard converted a penalty kick in the 56th after Defoe was fouled by Josip Simunic in the penalty area. Beckham’s cross in the 65th set up a tying goal by Crouch, who chested the ball and volleyed it past goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

Petric lifted Croatia back in front with a 25-yard shot that beat Carson to the far corner.

Heavy rain left the field at Wembley Stadium waterlogged in patches at each end. The penalty and corner areas were covered by surface water, while both teams warmed up. Field staff worked to remove divots.

Source: England make embarassing Euro 2008 exit

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