McClaren mystified by defeat
McClaren mystified by defeat
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Wednesday, 17, Oct 2007 10:35
England coach Steve McClaren was shocked to see his side slump to a disappointing 2-1 defeat in Moscow.
The result leaves England’s chances of Euro 2008 qualification hanging by a thread, as they must now rely on Russia dropping points against either Israel or Andorra.
"We had it in our grasp and ended up losing," said a dejected McClaren.
"I've been involved in games like this before and there are no answers as to how it is possible to end up on the losing side.
"It's a bad position. We have to rely on Russia stumbling against Israel."
Early signs were good for England, who took the lead just before the half-hour courtesy of a wonderful volley from Wayne Rooney.
But a suspect penalty, converted by Roman Pavluchenko, allowed Russia back into the game.
"I've just seen the penalty again. It's an absolute disgrace," said the England coach after the game.
"It's outside the box. The linesman didn't give it. It was the referee from quite some distance. Things like that turn games.
"It was a mad four minutes after that and unfortunately we conceded a second," said McClaren.
"But I can't fault the players for the game-plan, the way they've endeavoured to work, the commitment, the blocks we got in, the headers.
"We've ended up losing a game that really, after 70 minutes, I never thought we'd lose."