England News

• Nickname:Three Lions
• Founded: 1872
• Manager:Roy Hodgson

• Ground:Wembley Stadium
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Mac confirms Owen blow

17 Nov 2007 - 07:51:28

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Striker Michael Owen will definitely miss England's Euro 2008 showdown with Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday, after suffering a thigh injury in the 1-0 friendly victory in Austria.

Owen lasted just over half an hour of the win in Vienna before being forced off, with coach Steve McClaren now missing both the Newcastle United star and Wayne Rooney for the qualifying finale.

He said after the game: "It's a massive blow but injuries are part of football.

"We have certainly had our fair share and not to have your best players available is not how you would choose to go into what I still believe will be the crunch game.

"But I am not making excuses. We have dealt with this type of situation before and we will do so again.

"We go into the match without two centre-halves and two centre-forwards, but if it comes to it, I believe there is enough spirit."

McClaren also refused to blame the cold conditions in Austria for the injury-plagued Owen's latest setback.

"The conditions were perfect," he added. "It wasn't even that cold.

"We trained at Arsenal on Thursday morning and it was colder than that. These things can happen."