England youngsters stunned by Vucko
Football: England Under-21 0 Croatia Under-21 1
England Under-21 0 Croatia Under-21 1
Dave Sexton's inexperienced England side were beaten by a Croat team whose slick and stylish performance at Roker Park last night suggested the full England side will have a match on their hands at Wembley tonight.
It could have been different if a fierce header from Charlton's Richard Rufus, the captain and one of eight newcomers in the side, had found the target in the first half instead of rattling the bar.
From a cross by Manchester United's Terry Cooke, Bruce Dyer, of Crystal Palace, powered in a header that goalkeeper Vedran Runje got a hand to, but the Croats picked up the pace and after 33 minutes Davor Vugrinec hit the underside of the bar.
A minute later they took the lead. The England goalkeeper, Chris Day of Tottenham, did well to beat away a shot from Ante Covic but Jurica Vucko made no mistake from the rebound.
Vucko should have added a second after the break when he shot wide from in front of goal.
ENGLAND UNDER-21: Day (Tottenham); Brown (Man City), Briscoe (Sheff Wed), O'Connor (Everton), Rufus (Charlton), Thatcher (Millwall), Cooke (Man Utd), Ford (Leeds), Gallen (QPR), Dyer (C Palace), Holland (Newcastle). Substitutes: Plummer (QPR) for O'Connor, 63; Carbon (Derby) for Thatcher, 63; Moore (Tranmere) for Gallen, 71; Davis (Luton) for Day, 71; Hendrie (Aston Villa) for Ford, 86.
CROATIA UNDER-21: Runje; Milic, Cuitanovic, Thomas, Lalic, Juric, Vucko, Cizmek, Maric, Vugrinec, Kovic. Substitutes: Krznaric for Vucko, 77; Tudor for Kovic, 87; Ivankovic for Vugrinec, 85
Referee: W Young (Glasgow).
n England Under-18 reached the finals of the European Championship in France this summer after a 3-0 win over their Scotland in Yeovil last night. Tottenham's Stephen Clemence, son of former Liverpool and Spurs goalkeeper Ray, scored the first goal from a penalty. Leeds United's Andy Shepherd and Jason Blunt completed the scoring.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies