Great Result for Croatia's U21

[Dinko]

Young Scots make brave exit


Garry O'Connor (left) opened the scoring for Scotland
Scotland U21 1-0 Croatia U21 (Aggregate 1-2)
Rainer Bonhof's Under-21s took a Euro 2004 exit in typically brave Scottish fashion despite a single-goal victory over their much-fancied Croat counterparts.

Hibernian striker Garry O'Connor scored early on his home pitch to ensure that the young Scots kept up their record of never having lost at Easter Road.

But, despite hardly threatening the Scots' goal throughout the 90 minutes, it was Croatia who progressed to next summer's finals thanks to their 2-0 first-leg victory.

Bonhof had made four changes, with defenders Gary Caldwell and David McCracken both suspended and forward Tom McManus and midfielder Michael Stewart being relegated to the bench.

Stuart Duff came into defence, Gareth Williams to midfield, while Shaun Maloney and O'Connor started up front.

Bonhof hails defeated Scots
Croatia were without star players Niko Kranjcar and Marko Babic, drafted into the full squad for the Euro 2004 play-off second leg against Slovenia.

The visitors are being tipped as possible winners of the tournament as a whole and recently left England with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Scotland had themselves produced a sensational comeback in Perth, when they fought back from two goals down to beat Lithuania to finish top of the group and clinch a play-off place.

They threatened something similar after only 40 seconds, but Maloney's ball across the face of goal just evaded O'Connor sliding boot.

Marijan Buljat came close to virtually killing the tie when he stole in behind Steve Hammell but sent his powerful effort over the bar.

But the rest of the action was at the other end and the outside of the far post denied Brian Kerr after the midfielder fired in a low drive after nine minutes.

Scotland's breakthrough was only delayed a matter of seconds, Hammell flighting a cross into the box and O'Connor looping his header over the goalkeeper.

O'Connor should have added another soon after, heading over from 12 yards when unmarked at a corner.

A Hammell volley from 20 yards forced Tomislav Vranjic into a save high under his crossbar.


Croatia will take their place in the U21 Euro 2004 finals
Scotland suffered a blow after 35 minutes, when Sunderland striker Kevin Kyle had to be replaced with Simon Lynch after failing to run off what looked like a knee injury.

Peter Canero came close to squaring the aggregate on the stroke of half-time, chesting the ball past one defender, heading past another then sending in a volley from 12 yards that was blocked by Vranjic at point-blank range.

Scotland had the Croats pinned back after the break, but clear-cut chances were proving hard to come by.

Lynch prodded a shot through a crowded goalmouth after 60 minutes, but Vranjic spread himself well to turn the ball behind for a corner.

A drive from Maloney across the face of the goal fell to Duff at the back post, only for his shot on the turn to fly just wide.

Maloney was immediately stretchered off, to be replaced by Stephen Hughes.

John Kennedy headed just wide from a corner after 78 minutes as the Croats held out for an aggregate win.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scotland U21: Gordon, Duff, Hammell, Williams, Kennedy, Kerr, Canero, Murray, Kyle, Maloney, O'Connor.
Subs: McGregor, Dillon, Montgomery, Hughes, McManus, Stewart, Lynch.

Croatia U21: Vranjic, Buljat, Pranjic, Drpic, Lucic, Jese, Safaric, Hikulic, Ljubojevic, Kranjcar, Petric.
Subs: Sarlija, Linic, Gal, Brkic, Zgela, Cosic, Zahora.

Referee: Tommy Skjerven (Norway)


Have your say: BBC Scotland Fans Forum

[Dinko]

Bonhof hails defeated Scots


Rainer Bonhof praised the Scots despite their exit
Scotland Under-21 boss Rainer Bonhof has declared a bright future for Scotland despite their failure to make next summer's European Championship finals.
Bonhof's charges defeated Croatia 1-0 at Easter Road, but it was not enough following their two-goal defeat in the first leg.

The German shrugged aside doubts about his own future in the Scotland set-up to praise the progress made during his 15 months in charge.

"We have tried to close the gap between the under-21s and the A squad and the way they have performed makes me so hopeful for the future," said Bonhof.

"We would have liked to take them further, but it is up to them now once they are back at their clubs.

It's hard to take as we could have been 4-0 up by half-time

Scotland U21 captain Ian Murray
"I fully expect a few of them to be in the full squad in a couple of years.

"The boys have done a great job and had a brilliant comeback against Lithuania to win our group.

"But football is not always kind and good luck to Croatia."

Bonhof has yet to be offered a new contract, despite his acclaimed work with the Under-21s and his current deal expiring in the summer.

However, he said: "I have enjoyed it, but let me go on a holiday over Christmas and see what happens."

The young Scots dominated Tuesday's match but were left in disbelief that they could not add to Garry O'Connor's early goal.

Young Scots make brave exit

Captain Ian Murray said: "It's hard to take as we could have been 4-0 up by half-time.

"We hammered them and took them apart at times, a bit like Croatia did to us over there.

"But we have gone out with a bit of pride."

Sponsors man-of-the-match John Kennedy added: "We were a bit unlucky and just have to take it on the chin.

"If we had played like that in Croatia then maybe we would not be in this position."

[DK]

Brave Scots fall agonisingly short

MIKE AITKEN AT EASTER ROAD


Scotland U21 1 O’Connor (11)
Croatia U21 0
Croatia U21 win 2-1 on aggregate.

IT WAS impossible to identify too many dark clouds looming over Scottish football’s bright new tomorrow even though the Under-21 side were ultimately thwarted at Easter Road last night in their attempt to win a place in the finals of the European Championships.

Playing compact football going forward, giving little away at the back and generally trying their hearts out, the Scots were only found wanting in front of goal, where a combination of missed opportunities, solid goalkeeping and sheer bad luck cost them the second goal which would have forced extra time.

As often happens in games played over two legs, the damage was done to Scotland away from home when they lost 2-0. On home turf, however, they provided much to admire both in terms of appetite for the game and skilful composure, even if the 1-0 victory fell agonisingly short.

Rainer Bonhof, the coach, felt his players deserved to go through and was less than enthralled by the performance of the Norwegian referee. "The game was too big for him," said the German. He also paid tribute to the performances of his players throughout the campaign and insisted "there were footballers out there I hope we will see again playing for Scotland again in the future".

Bonhof asked his young charges "to fight for every square foot" against a talented Croatian outfit who were made to look ordinary for all but 15 minutes of the two legs. It was a measure of the spirit of the Scots that they won the battle at Easter Road if not the war.

Ian Murray, the captain, was troubled by another glorious failure and irked he didn’t win a penalty in time added on for injury when he was obstructed in the Croatian box. "There was a lot of diving going on and there’s been a lot of talk about that with the continentals recently," he said. "But, to be fair, it wasn’t the reason we went out. The damage was done in the first leg."

Those old enough to remember an Under-23 match at Easter Road in the 1970s when a crowd of nearly 33,000 watched a young Joe Jordan lead Scotland to a 2-0 win over Holland might have dwelled on the loss of faith over the decades which saw a smaller, and much younger, gathering attend last night’s play-off.

Now, as then, though, there was no shortage of enthusiasm, even if the odds were stacked against the Scots.

Bonhof brought in Garry O’Connor to add height alongside Kevin Kyle up front, with Celtic’s Shaun Maloney promoted from the bench to play in the space between midfield and attack.

The shortage of centre-backs available to the home side also saw Ian Murray, a midfield player for Hibs, drop back to operate on the left side of a three-man defence.

Scotland’s 3-4-1-2 formation was designed to press the game but involved an element of risk: this potential for calamity was illustrated early on when Nikola Safaric ran into the space normally occupied by a left-back and thumped a fierce volley half a yard wide. The measure of this Scottish performance, of course, would be judged on its attacking merits.

The signs were positive in the opening phase with Brian Kerr drawing back his left-boot some 25 yards out and beating Tomislav Vranjic in the Croatian goal with an angled shot which only skipped wide off the base of the far post.

That moment of opportunism seemed to inspire the young men in blue jerseys. They were ahead on the night and back in the tie after 11 minutes when Steven Hammell’s cross from the left flank was met by O’Connor’s glancing header from the edge of the six-yard box. The jump was timed sweetly and the ball tore into the net, to shrieks of delight from the day-care division of the Tartan Army

Suitably buoyed by an early goal, the combination of Hammell’s delivery and O’Connor’s aerial threat almost prised a second from a corner a few minutes later when the Hibs man again ghosted clear of the cover but couldn’t get the header on target.

Not wishing to be put in the shade by their team-mates, Kyle and Canero subsequently proceeded to work a delightful one-two inside the penalty box which deserved to produce a finishing touch for the Kilmarnock player’s inviting cut-back.

Croatia, who kept eight men behind the ball at all times, steadied the ship before half-time by smothering the space in midfield. The visitors must also have been relieved to watch Kyle limp off before half-time, with Simon Lynch joining O’Connor in the front line.

Since most of the young Croatian team already looked honours graduates from Diving School - the referee overlooked a lot of time wasting and feigning of injury - it was asking a lot of the Scots to maintain any momentum.

To their credit Bonhof’s eager players continued to trouble Croatia with a series of corners which could easily have created a second after one cross skidded into the six-yard box.

If Scotland’s pressure was persistent rather than piercing, there were few worries that the unadventurous Croatians would show anything on the counter attack. Moreover, there was a belated sense of justice when the aptly named Jese was booked for ungentlemanly behaviour. Perhaps Scotland’s most clear cut opening of the second period fell to centre-back Stuart Duff but the Dundee United player made a defender’s hash of an opportunity a striker would have put away.

As the clock ticked down, Rangers midfielder Stephen Hughes - the two-goal hero of the late comeback against the Lithuanians - replaced Maloney.

Another decent chance fell to a defender when Celtic’s John Kennedy was off target with a header and, despite more than four minutes of added time, there was to be no last-gasp glory this time.

Scotland U21: Gordon, Duff, Hammell, Williams, Kennedy, Kerr, Canero, Murray, Kyle, Maloney, O’Connor. Subs: McGregor, Dillon, Montgomery, Hughes, McManus, Stewart, Lynch.

Croatia U21: Vranjic, Buljat, Pranjic, Drpic, Lucic, Jese, Safaric, Hikulic, Ljubojevic, Kranjcar, Petric. Subs: Sarlija, Linic, Gal, Brkic, Zgela, Cosic, Zahora.

Referee: T Skjerven (Nor). Attendance: 11,992

[Marijan]

Vecernji list:

"KVALIFIKACIJE NA NOGOMETNO EP MLADIH: ŠKOTSKA - HRVATSKA 1:0
Mali "kockasti" na EP unatoè porazu
Veæi dio utakmice smo proveli u svom šesnaestercu, no prednost je saèuvana
EDINBURGH - Do posljednjih sekunda hrvatska malada nogometna reprezentacija igrala se sa živcima svojih navijaèa.
Bila je to najslabija predstava ove generacije, no na kraju uz podosta sreæe, nekoliko sjajnih reakcija vratara Tomislav Vranjiæa, mali "kockasti" su ipak pronašli put na Europsko prvenstvo. Škoti su stigli do minimalne pobjede 1:0, ali nisu imali snage uèiniti više i stiæi varaždinskih 2:0.
Pod motom cilj opravdava sredstvo Novoselèevi nogometaši su svih devedeset minuta igrali u bunkeru èuvajuæi varaždinski kapital i ne pomišljajuæi na igru.
Na EP Njemaèka, SiCG i Portugal
Rezultati ostalih uzvrata dodatnih kvalifikacija za Europsko prvenstvo mladih nogometnih reprezentacija: Francuska - PORTUGAL 2:6 - jedanaesterci (u prvoj utakmici 2:1), Norveška - SICG 3:0 (1:5), Turska - NJEMAÈKA 1:1 (0:1), . Danas se igraju preostala èetiri susreta: Èeška - Švicarska (1:2), Poljska - Bjelorusija (1:1), Italija - Danska (1:1) i Španjolska - Švedska (0:2). Prošle su reprezentacije ispisane velikim slovima.

Da æe to biti dramatièna veèer, otkrili smo veæ u prvom napadu kad je za trenutak na jednu loptu zakasnio Garry O"Connor, isto tako i u šestoj minuti kad je udarac Briana Kerra zaustavila vratnica.
Taj furiozni poèetak domaæi nogometaši su naplatili u 11. minuti. Jednu dobro ubaèenu loptu Stevena Hammela s lijeve strane iskoristio je opasni O"Connor, te je glavom šalje iza leða Vranjiæa.
Nakon toga pritisak je malo splasno, no ponovno naši mladiæi nisu uspjeli držati loptu, vrlo brzo su je gubili i domaæi nogometaši su stalno imali loptu i brzim proigravanjima su pokušavali što prije doæi do našeg kaznenog prostora. Do odmora još su dvaput opasno zaprijetili (William i Kerr), a u posljednjim sekundama prvog èina naš je vratar fenomenalno reagirao nakon udarca Petera Canera.
No, ni petnaestominutni predah nije ni za milimetar promijenio odnos snaga, Škoti su navaljivali, a nogometaši u kockastim majicama su u glavi imali samo jedno - ne primiti pogodak. Bilo je pred našim vratima svega i svaèeg, no na kraju su naši nogometaši ipak izvukli živu glavu. Niko Kranjèar je tek u 70. minuti uputio jedan mlaki udarac i to je bilo sve od naših igraèa.
Naši su razoèarali, no postoje i mala opravdana u èinjenici da Novoselac nije mogao raèunati na Babiæa, Careviæa i Tomiæa, te da su naši nogometaši bili umorni od puta nakon nedjeljne varaždinske utakmice. Sve æe se to na kraju zaboraviti, najvažnije je da je Hrvatska izborila odlazak na završnicu EP-a sljedeæe godine.
U tom društvu najboljih mali "kockasti" æe tražiti prigodu za potvrdu svih svojih potencijala i eventualni odlazak (idu tri prvoplasirana) na Olimpijske igre u Atenu takoðer sljedeæe godine. (RI - I. F.)