10 September 2008 - Theo Is The Future And The Future Is Now

On 10 September 2008, Theo Walcott scored his first hat-trick. And it just happened to make him the youngest player ever to do so for England.

Only 19 years old at the time, Walcott had risen to prominence at Southampton (2004-06) before moving to Arsenal in January 2006. After only a half season in London, England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson surprised everyone by including Walcott in his squad for the 2006 World Cup. The winger made his first start for the senior England team in a May 2006 friendly against Hungary, becoming the youngest debutant in the national team's history.

After falling out of favor with Eriksson's replacement, Steve McClaren, Walcott returned to the national team set-up under McClaren's successor, Fabio Capelli, and got his first competitive England start on 6 September 2008 in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra. He failed to score in that match, but got his chance four days later in a qualifier against Croatia.

Playing before a crowd of 35,000 at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, Walcott scored his first senior England goal in the 26th minute, as an attempted clearance by Croatia deflected off one of their own players. It landed at Walcott's feet on the right wing and he fired it across the keeper into the far bottom corner. The second goal was a nearly identical shot, delivered in the 59th minute.

The best goal of the three was the final one. In the 82nd minute, with England winning 1-3, forward Wayne Rooney sent a perfectly-placed pass to Walcott, who was sprinting down the right side. He outpaced his marker, took a couple of touches to move the ball across the box to the left, and slipped it under the keeper into the right corner. He was 19 years and 178 days old at the time, making him not only the youngest player to score a hat-trick for England, but the youngest to score for them in a World Cup qualifier. They remain his only three goals, however, in 18 total appearances for England.

Almost two years later, he got his first club hat-trick, scoring three in Arsenal's 6-0 win over Blackpool on 22 August 2010.

11 October 2006 - That's Just The Way The Ball Bounces

On 11 October 2006, Croatia defeated England 2-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier due in part to a freakish English own goal.

Played before a crowd of 38,000 at Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, it was the third match of the campaign for both sides, with neither yet conceding a goal. Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson was in goal for England, following his strong performance at the 2006 World Cup in which he kept clean sheets in 4 of the 5 matches England played.

The two sides battled to a scoreless stalemate in the first half, with Robinson making a trio of key stops to deny Eduardo, Niko Kranjčar, and Mladen Petric. But Eduardo finally beat Robinson with a 61st-minute header to put Croatia up 1-0. Disaster for England followed shortly afterward.

In the 69th minute, midfielder Gary Neville sent a pass back to Robinson. As the ball rolled tamely toward him, the keeper stepped up to launch it up the pitch. But just as he swung his leg, the ball hit a divot and bounced over Robinson's foot. As Robinson tried to turn, the ball continued rolling, right into the goal.

Croatia went on to win the match 2-0, on their way toward topping the qualifying group. England finished third, one point behind second-place Russia and one spot too low to qualify. Robinson went into international exile, going for over two years until his next England call-up, and retired from the national team in 2010.

21 November 2007 - Croatia Rains On England's Parade

On 21 November 2007, the final day of qualification for Euro 2008, Croatia defeated England, 2-3, before a rain-soaked crowd of 88,000 in London's Wembley Stadium. The loss eliminated England from the tournament and sealed the fate of England manager Steve McClaren.

England started the day in second place in Group E on 23 points. They were three points behind leaders Croatia, who had already booked their place in the tournament, and two points ahead of third-place Russia, who were facing last-place Andorra.

England had lost to Croatia 2-0 in Zagreb, but were hoping for a better result at home, despite missing several key players, including forward Wayne Rooney and all four players from their preferred back line. The available personnel forced McLaren to change the formation from a 4-4-2 to a 4-1-4-1, with Peter Crouch playing as the lone striker.

England's hopes took a blow in the 8th minute, as Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjčar found the back of the net with a 25-yard shot that was helped past keeper Scott Carson by a tricky bounce off the wet pitch. Ivica Olić doubled the visitors' lead in the 14th minute as a precision pass by forward Eduardo da Silva beat the English defense and allowed Olić to walk the ball into an open goal.

England entered the second half to a chorus of boos and jeers from the home fans, but soon gave them something to cheer when Jermain Defoe won a penalty which Frank Lampard converted in the 56th minute. Peter Crouch equalized nine minutes later with a goal from a David Beckham pass.

As it turned out, a draw would have been enough to see England through on goal differential, but it did not last. Croatian substitute forward Mladen Petrić (pictured), who had replaced Eduardo in the 69th minute, beat Carson with a 25-yard stunner in the 77th minute. England were unable to find another equalizer and conceded all three points to Croatia.

Russia, as expected, beat Andorra and moved into second place in the group, dropping England into third and out of the tournament. The FA terminated McClaren's contract the next day after only 18 matches in 16 months, making his time in charge of the national team the shortest of any England manager.