On November 21, the day of the match, all England fans were at home or in pubs waiting to watch the upcoming game.

According to the news revealed before the game, David. Beckham was indeed named to the starting line-up by McClaren. It looks like he's finally going to trust a veteran experience in such an important match.

Donn was also waiting in front of the TV to watch the game, he was not trying to cheer England and McLaren, he was purely looking at Beckham's form and performance.

In the Croatian squad, striker Eduardo, who currently plays for Arsenal, is in the Croatian squad. Reach. Silva gets the most attention. Before the game, there was a lot of praise for his ability in the English media, looking back on his half-season at Arsenal and calling it "flawless". Actually, it's not "perfect", but it's "still a success". He's scored five goals in less than half a season, which is pretty good considering it's his first season. He will be the most dangerous player for England in this game.

There was also a change in the squad announced before the game, with Robinson, who had previously been England's first-choice goalkeeper, dropped for this game and Carson, who excelled in the warm-up game against Austria, was the starter. It seems that McLaren also has a distrust of Robinson, otherwise it would be a risky move to replace the main goalkeeper he has been using in such an important game.

With injuries to Owen and Wayne Rooney, Crouch was the striker who started the game, exactly the same as Arsene Wenger's previous analysis – Arsene Wenger thinks McClaren will play 451 because England are now short of strikers.

The five players in midfield are Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Joe. Cole, Barry. At the back, due to Rio Ferdinand's ban, John Terry is injured and cannot play, and the combination of Manchester City's Richards is right-back, Campbell and Lescott are central defenders, and Wayne is left-back. Bridge.

Pre-game. The English media is touting Croatia vigorously, and the subtext is that it hopes that Croatia will have qualified ahead of schedule and let England go, and there is no need to fight with us......

The Croatian head coach did not say anything about the issue, and when asked by reporters, he was cleverly bypassed. No one knows if he's going to give it his all, or if he's really just pretending to be and then letting go when England get their way......

Don't think that European football will be much cleaner than Chinese football, match-fixing, gambling, tacit understanding, water release, black whistle...... The dark side of these footballs. In Europe, it's the same no less. It's just that people are smarter than China, and ordinary people can't see it if they don't look closely, and even if they do, there is no evidence.

For example, of course, the English people want Croatia to release water, although this will harm the interests of Russia and violate the spirit of fair play, but it will damage the interests of Russia and the interests of England, which one will England choose? No fool would choose to satisfy Russia. Because not everyone is a cannibal. There are no saints with seven emotions and six desires. In such a time when the state and the nation are at stake, fanaticism will prevail.

However, the English are smart, they don't say it directly, they just give Croatia a particularly high-sounding reason to release the water - "to qualify early, there is no need to fight for a game that doesn't matter to them." In case of being a big player in the team, or causing the main player to eat a red card and be banned, it will be more than worth the loss. ”

The reasons are good and reasonable. Very legitimate. If Croatia did send a substitute and didn't do anything to get England to win, and the Russians were unhappy with the appeal, the matter would be gone without solid evidence.

But, the question is...... Will the Croats act according to a script written by the English?

Eight minutes into the game, a boulder fell over the heads of all the Englishmen.

Serna, the assist full-back who had made Donn hesitant to bring in this summer, broke through and crossed from the wing, followed up with a powerful shot from 25 yards out on the left flank of Tekranica. This game squeezed out Robinson, and Carson, the starting goalkeeper who had high hopes for McLaren, made a big mistake in the face of this shot - he saved the ball and got rid of it!

The soccer ball rolled slowly from under him like a goal. Carson, on the other hand, was still lying on the ground, a little unrelievable.

"Oh God......" narrator John Murphy Mortenson groaned in pain. "Is he too nervous, or is he ...... What a stupid mistake! ”

Croats celebrate their goals, but the new Wembley Stadium is deadly. Conceding a goal in just eight minutes of the opening kick was something no one expected.

Before the game, everyone was generally optimistic that England could use home advantage to beat Croatia, so most fans were quite optimistic.

Donn straightened his back on the couch due to Croatia's active performance. He suddenly felt like he was looking forward to the game again...... It looks like the Croats are not going to play according to the script that the English have written for them......

The nightmare of the English is not over. Just six minutes after that goal, the fourteenth minute. Eduardo. Reach. Silva dribbled the ball to the edge of the box. He drew England's two centre-backs, Campbell and Lescott, to follow, and that's when he played a straight ball to Orić in front.

Campbell raised his hand to signal that the opponent was offside, but did not chase back. But the linesman didn't say anything, and Campbell realized that Bridge was still behind......

Orić was successfully countered offside, and he easily shook it past the onrushing Carson before slotting home an empty goal.

In just six minutes, Croatia scored two goals in a row.

2：0！！

Croatia had no intention of letting go of the water at all, and their lively performance was like a basin of cold water, falling from the sky and extinguishing the flame of hope among the England fans.

Wembley Stadium was silent, as was commentator Mortensen. The camera shows McLaren, who is standing on the sidelines directing the game, and the poor man looks at the field a little dazedly, as if he still can't figure out what is happening. He still has a bottle of water in his hand, and he has been drinking water from the sidelines since Croatia started scoring the first goal. Anyway, as long as the TV camera swept to him after a while, he must be drinking water. His face was ruddy and full of sweat, and it wasn't because he was in good spirits. And completely tormented by nervous emotions.

After a long time, Mortenson's voice finally sounded again: "It's only been 20 minutes before the start, and we have conceded two goals in a row...... Is Campbell old? Is Lescote too young? That's not a reason. Where is our midfield defence? What is the most important barrier in front of the backline? Gareth. Barry works very hard, he's an all-round midfielder, and Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are also all-round midfielders...... But we need a dedicated defensive midfielder! Barry alone can't stop Croatia from attacking everywhere, they have too many attacking points! ”

Mortenson was reminding the television audience that there was a man who would be very helpful in the situation and was sitting in front of the TV at home watching the game.

Don doesn't see it that way. While watching the game, he explained to Shania next to him. Acting as a guest commentator for guest appearances, this is a return to the work of being a special guest commentator for the BBC World Cup.

"Mortensen was wrong, he said that he could only use before conceding the ball. Now that England are two goals down, there's little point in talking about a midfield barrier, and McClaren is now in a mess – is he desperately pressing up and bombarding them, or is he going to step up his defence in order not to concede any more goals? It's a difficult multiple-choice question, Shania. And this dilemma is the easiest to get into trouble, if he doesn't choose any answers...... So he had to make a decision as soon as possible. ”

Don said with a grin. He knew exactly how McLaren felt. Because both his opponents and himself have experienced it. When you desperately need to score and your opponent counter-scores, do you defend solidly to prevent conceding any more goals, or do you go out and play against the opponent?

McLaren didn't seem to have chosen his answer. England are a bit 'anarchic' on the pitch, with players wanting to go it alone when they get the ball, and there is no co-ordination at all. Even if he cooperates, he seems to be very impatient, and he always passes and stops the ball by himself.

The loyal England fans in the stands were still singing, but they couldn't hide the boos for McLaren.

Mortenson shook his head vigorously: "With such offensive quality, how can we expect a miracle?" ”

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard overlap in their roles and roles on the pitch. Fighting on their own, Beckham was confined to the right flank, but lacked adequate support, and apart from the apex pass, once he was stuck, he was basically useless. Joe on the left. What about Cole? The technique was excellent, but the lack of speed made his breakthrough a complete show, and the Croats had to lose the ball as soon as they got around. What about Barry? He was placed behind Shuangde. It is said that he is defending and then taking care of offense, but in fact his positioning is awkward.

One of his best performances for his country came against Israel, when Frank Lampard and Hargreaves were sidelined through injury and Carrick was dropped by McClaren, leaving Steven Gerrard gritted his teeth and insisted on playing. In that case, Barry was in the same form as he was at Aston Villa. As it turned out, it wasn't because he was overplaying, but because the midfield was just the right fit for him.

Shuangde is one less. Gerrard is injured again and is not in good shape. Barry could be the heart of the pitch when he moved to the middle, and his passing created five chances for England. In exchange for a ball. In that game he was completely used as the playmaker of the midfield, which was able to make the most of his all-round characteristics.

But now, Gerrard and Lampard are not injured or sick, McClaren let them be the core, and Barry can only be a foil, such a position and role are very embarrassing for Barry, he is a little at a loss, he can't find his own positioning, and naturally he doesn't know how to best play.

The whole lineup is like a freak, stuffed with a lot of powerful stars, but the combination can't play their role as they should, one plus one plus one plus one plus one is not equal to five or greater than five, but less than five.

The first half passed in Croatia's counter-attack and England's blind mistakes.

"If I were McLaren, I'd ask all the players to attack at half-time, not to think about defense, and to try to score a goal in the first ten minutes so that we can hope to win in the second half," Donn said to Shania next to him. Otherwise...... Just wait to die. ”

Shania pouted: "You're just talking about it here, why don't you go to coach the England team?" ”

Don smiled: "I'm not going." When I write an article in a newspaper column scolding the head coach of the national team and criticizing his tactics, it doesn't mean that I will also sit on it and be scolded. That's the location. It wasn't human. ”

At the start of the second half, as Donn said, England stepped up their attack. And it is not gradually increasing, it is a sudden offensive tide, and the momentum is pressing towards the hinterland of the Croatian team. It's like you don't want to defend at all. McClaren replaced Barry, who had a mediocre first-half performance, with striker Defoe, strengthening the forward line and adding support to Crouch.

Croatia were anticipating England's comeback in the second half and they were quick to respond to the situation.

Their attack against England was simple. Shrink down the middle, let you cross from the wing, come in and get cleared, and in a dense box it's not easy to get a shot over the top. Even a big man like Crouch, who is more than two meters tall, rarely has a chance to face two defenders.

Changing the course of a game is often not a surprise personnel change or a clever tactical arrangement, but a pure accident......

Joe. Cole picks up a cross into the box. Defoe fell in the box and the referee decided that Croatia's Simunic had committed a foul and awarded a penalty. Despite protests from the Croatian players, the referee had no intention of changing the decision. The penalty livened up the atmosphere and the Wembley fans chanted. Cheer on the players.

Poor McLaren, when the broadcaster gave him another shot, the water bottle in his hand was finally thrown away. Donn maliciously wondered if he had spent more time in the bathroom at halftime. Or in the dressing room, there is more time for the players to explain tactics......

Frank Lampard stepped up to take the penalty and his low shot fooled the goalkeeper and the ball flew into the bottom left corner. England pull a goal back! It was fifty-six minutes, just one minute after the start of the second half, which Donn had said.

England's morale was boosted when the goal was pulled back, while Croatia looked a little listless. Things were moving to the point where England hoped – the Croatian scored two goals to gag the Russians, and then saw England fight back and pushed the boat to give favors, and in the end England and Croatia played out 2:2 and everyone shook hands. Join hands to qualify.

However, then Bridge, who made an offside mistake in the first half, cleared the ball and hit the crossbar and almost caused an own goal, which made the hearts of all England people rise to their throats. Then Serna made a through pass and it was Bridge who made a mistake to stop the ball, but Orić was a little unprepared for the gift-giving opponent, and his hasty shot from the edge of the box was saved by Carson.

Don shook his head and snorted, "Layton. Barnes is better than Bridge, but it's a pity that McLaren can't look down on him. You can't look at it. ”

Sixty-fifth minute. Before the game, there were high hopes for David, who was expecting a miracle. David Beckham finally shines. He delivered a pinpoint cross from the wing. Sent the football to Crouch's side, the tall guy stopped the ball on his chest, and then volleyed directly to equalize the score for England!

Wembley Stadium erupted with tremendous energy in this moment, and the cheers of the fans were deafening even to Donn, who was sitting in front of the TV.

"Crouch! David Beckham! David. David Beckham, he saved England again! The cross was so accurate that Crouch only needed to jump up to stop the ball, and he didn't need to get rid of the defenders at all, because David's pass made it impossible for the opposition defenders to grab it! Mortenson shouted excitedly. "Draw! The situation is in our favor! ”

On the other side, Russia and Andorra have not yet scored in the news, so Mortensen said so. If Russia are also held to a draw by Andorra, England will have no pressure at all – even if they lose, they will qualify.

David Beckham, who set up his team-mate's goal, was even more excited than Crouch who scored the goal, hugging and celebrating, stepped back and clenched his fists to pound the Three Lions logo on his chest, the FA badge of the English FA.

Now that he has re-entered the England national team, the number behind him is no longer the glorious No. 7, the No. 7 is Barry, and he can only wear No. 17. Even at Nottingham Forest, he couldn't wear No.7 and No.23. For a while, everyone thought that he had completely sunk and that it was impossible to return to what he used to be. But every time people think so. Beckham will prove how wrong they are with his own actions.

In the 1998 World Cup, he was sent off to take revenge on Simeone and became the "public enemy" of the all-British crusade, and everyone thought his career was over. But in the first game of the 98-99 season, David Beckham announced his return with a goal, and that season he helped United win the great treble; In the 2000 European Championships, England were knocked out of the group stage without qualifying, and he was in the same sluggish form as England, but in the 2001 World Cup qualifiers, he took a free-kick against Greece. Let him turn from a man into a god in an instant; In the 2004 European Championships, he missed a penalty that led to the elimination of the team by Portugal, and countless people ridiculed him for a while, and this voice continued until the World Cup in Germany. In the eyes of those people, England's current anchor is Frank Lampard and Gerrard Gerrard, and Wayne Rooney, but in Germany, it is who almost single-handedly brought England into the last 16. And rely on his own free kick to help the team break into the quarterfinals? It's David. David Beckham. Who wears the captain's armband and runs tirelessly in the scorching sun at the age of thirty until he vomits? It's David. David Beckham; After the World Cup, he was excluded from the national team and had a hard time at Real Madrid. I can't even get into the substitute list. Everyone thought that he should be completely finished this time, and he could only go to the United States to pan for gold and make a living, right? No, David Beckham impressed Capello with his amazing professional performance and consistency, as well as his fighting spirit of never giving up. He returned to Real Madrid's main squad and helped the team win their first league title in four years, and also announced that he would return to the Premier League and join the new European champions Nottingham Forest, which is bound to make a comeback.

Don looked at the familiar hideous, twisted face on the TV screen...... He had some schadenfreude that England was going to be eliminated, and now he couldn't be happy.

He was conflicted. Because he doesn't want McClaren to remain in the managerial role, and he doesn't want to see Beckham's international career end miserably if he doesn't qualify for the final of the European Championship. Is David Beckham still looking forward to the World Cup in three years' time?

Without his return in the first half of the year, McLaren's side would not even have a chance to face Croatia and Russia for the final qualifying spot at Wembley.

But is this more cruel? Which is better, falling before the finish line or quitting before the race?

In the next game, Don has been silent, and he doesn't explain the game to Shania, Shanya feels a little strange, she glances at Don with a serious face, and doesn't ask.

David Beckham is trying harder, or the players in England are working harder. Because Croatia is fighting back. It seems that the Croats do not accept the idea of the English wishful thinking, and they are not willing to shake hands with their opponents here.

David Beckham began to drop back and move to the middle to help defend. His offensive threat has been weakened, after all, he is older, he is not as good as he was when he was younger, sometimes he can't come back, sometimes he can't come back. In the 74th minute, McClaren made a controversial post-match substitution. Phillips replaces David Beckham.

When Beckham came off the pitch, the crowd stood up and applauded him for all he had done for the team.

It can be seen that McLaren doesn't want to just stay until the end of the game, and replace Wright, who has more physical strength and dribbling skills to break through. Phillips just wants to continue to put pressure on Croatia and make their comeback momentum weaken slightly.

His idea was good, but he overlooked one point. Sometimes relying on offense to suppress defense can be counterproductive, because it's a double-edged sword......

Wright. Phillips may be more active in attack than David Beckham, but his contribution in defence is definitely not as good as that of the more responsible Beckham.

In the 81st minute, Wembley Stadium fell silent for a minute when Croatian substitute Petrić fired a powerful shot from 25 yards out on the left to regain the lead.

Instead of clenching his fists to cheer for Croatia's goal this time, Donn just sat on the couch and sighed.

The destined result was just a little too cruel for David.

At the same time, the Russian side also scored, and the score of the match between Russia and Andorra was played at the bottom of the screen - 0:1, and Andorra, the home game, was behind.

To add insult to injury, everyone in England could only remain silent.

Just after Croatia scored, McLaren used Darren . Bent replaces Joe. Cole, continue to strengthen the offense. He's used up all three substitutions and wants to give it a go.

England came out in the heat to find a late equaliser and pull off a miracle. But what made them very uncomfortable was that Croatia did not regain all their lead and let England besiege them, on the contrary, they continued to counterattack and attack, pressing resolutely whenever they had the opportunity, causing problems for England's backline and forcing England to withdraw their troops and return to the defense.

It's a lot like Donn's approach, no matter how many goals he leads, he doesn't give up the idea and opportunity to counter-attack. It's just to do their best to press the attack before the opponent has the conditions to create a miracle.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the score was fixed at 2:3.

Beckham, who has not yet changed his shirt, stands on the field. The TV gave him a long shot of his back, with a noisy stand in the background and a large, striking and glaring screen overhead.

David Beckham looked up at the score on the screen in the number 17 shirt:

England 2:3 Croatia.

No one could see the expression on his face, and he stood there alone for a long time. Behind him were dejected teammates and those who were cheering and celebrating, and in front of him was an empty pitch and an empty goal.

Under this picture, Mortenson sighed: "England is out. In the summer of 2008, it was announced in advance...... Come to an end. ”

Donn turned off the TV, he didn't want to see Beckham's back or listen to McClaren in the post-match press conference.

Shania looked at him strangely.

"I went to sleep. He turned and walked upstairs. "Good night, Shania. ”

"Good night, Uncle Tony. Shania watched his back disappear into the staircase, then she turned her head to look at the quartz clock on the wall.

It's not even ten o'clock.

She turned back and turned on the TV, just in time for the post-match interview. Beckham stood in front of the camera, his jersey already soaked with sweat on his chest.

He said with a tired expression: "The exit from the European Championship qualifiers is not the end of the world, England have so many young good players, I believe we will have a good future in the World Cup in South Africa......"

"Going out of the European Championship qualifiers, can you play for Nottingham Forest with peace of mind?" A reporter asked vaguely.

Beckham shook his head: "I will not announce my withdrawal from the England team. As I said before, I'm ready to play for England until they don't need me anymore. ”

With that, Beckham refused to answer any other questions and walked out of the interview area with his head bowed.

Shania saw McLaren appear on the screen, and she turned off the TV and went upstairs to get ready to rest.

It wasn't a fun night......