Hiddink: Brave Croatia Upheld Fair Play

Guus Hiddink hailed Croatia's effort at Wembley last night, and credited them for giving their all despite having qualified.

England needed just a draw against Croatia to qualify, but a shock 3-2 defeat saw Steve McClaren's boys crash out, and Guus Hiddink's boys ushered into next summer's tournamen.

"Croatia performed with truly manly character and did honour to the principles of fair play," said a delighted Hiddink.

"I can also say the same about Israel, who played very fairly against us Saturday."

"I did not believe in miracles, I believed we had a small chance," he added.

"I'm happy that we won it [the game and the race for qualification]. I told my players that I'm proud of them."

Vitaly Mutko, head of the Russian Football Union was just as happy.

"I believe we deserved this success," he beamed. "We were not bad at all in this qualifying group though our performance was definitely not the best possible.

"It is not yet a result of our football system's work. We are just making our first steps in the right direction. But we should use this success for the good of Russian football."