Croatia manager doesn`t want to meet England

Croatia manager Slaven Bilic said England was the team he least wanted to meet in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers despite Croatia ending England's Euro 2008 hopes at Wembley.

"Everyone in Croatia was saying 'give us England again' but I wanted to avoid England," Bilic told Sky Sports News. But the two teams will meet in the qualifiers to the World Cup finals in South Africa, as they have been drawn in the same group.

"It is a very, very hard draw because they are by far the best team from the second pot. The only team I wanted to avoid was England. We are not afraid of them but they have got a terrific team and brilliant players. They should gel and they are going to gel," he said.

Croatia beat England twice in qualifying for Euro 2008. Their 3-2 victory at Wembley last Wednesday meant England failed to qualify. Manager Steve McClaren was dismissed the following morning.

Apart from England, Croatia meet Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra in Group Six of the World Cup qualifiers.

"It's not only England but we have Ukraine too -- that's a couple of teams who were in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup and both didn't qualify for Euro 2008," Bilic said.

"They will do anything to get to the World Cup in 2010. It's the most difficult group to be honest," he added.

Bilic does not know if he will be in charge of Croatia for their World Cup qualifying campaign.

"My contract runs out after Euro 2008 and you can't plan long term in this job," he said.

"I am focussed on my job and the European Championship," he told a radio station.