07 September 2023 , 07:37
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Micah Richards missed out on £1million after Scott Carson's error in England's infamous defeat to Croatia 16 years ago
The Three Lions memorably failed to qualify for Euro 2008 following a 3-2 defeat in their final qualifier against Croatia at Wembley. Steve McClaren's side only needed a draw to reach the tournament in Poland and Austria, but that point never came.
England went two goals down after Carson fumbled Nico Kranjcar's tame effort into the net. They got back on level terms through Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch, but Mladen Petric's winner broke English hearts and ended the so-called 'Golden Generation'.
Richards played at right-back that day and would've received a £1m bonus from Manchester City if England qualified for Euro 2008. Yet that money never came thanks to Carson's error, with the goalkeeper now winning trophies galore at the Etihad.
Richards made the revelation on The Rest Is Football. He said: "The team we had that day... We didn't have Rio (Ferdinand) or John Terry. It was a mixed-bag team. (David) Beckham was on the bench as well. It was all over the place.
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"But we thought we could get a draw. That was terrible! I think my player rating after that game, at best, was a two. But I blame Scott Carson. I blame him. I'm sorry. He's at Man City now, taking all the accolades, winning the treble, medal after medal.
"And he cost me a million quid. He cost me a million pounds! Sterling! Not euros, not pesos, not francs... That was my bonus - get to the Euros, (have) so many appearances for England, and you get more money on your contract at Man City."
Scott Carson made a blunder against Croatia in 2007 (PA)Do you remember England's loss to Croatia in 2007? Let us know in the comments below!
England were thought to be one of the strongest teams in Europe at the time, with many pundits backing them to win the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Yet they were dumped out by Portugal in the quarter-finals before their shock Euro 2008 failure.
McClaren, who succeeded Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager after the 2006 World Cup, famously watched England's defeat to Croatia while holding an umbrella. He was dubbed 'the wally with the brolly' by one newspaper and sacked shortly after that loss.
That game was Carson's first competitive appearance for England, with critics wondering why McClaren picked Carson ahead of the more experienced David James. Carson went on to make four outings for the Three Lions between 2007 and 2011.
As for Richards, he barely played for England again after their Euro 2008 failure. He wasn't fancied by McClaren's replacement Fabio Capello and won just 13 senior caps in total, with the last of those coming in 2012.