MICAH RICHARDS blames Manchester City goalkeeper Scott Carson for a staggering £1million loss in 2007.
That was when England lost 3-2 to Croatia at Wembley and were officially denied a place in Euro 2008 under then manager Steve McClaren.
Carson started between the sticks in that nightmare qualifier as did Richards at right-back in McClaren’s heavily rotated starting line-up for this must-win game.
Slaven Bilic’s men opened the scoring after just eight minutes with a long-range shot by Niko Kranjcar that the keeper couldn’t hold on to.
The Croats doubled their lead only six minutes later when Ivica Olic dribbled past the now 38-year-old shot stopper with ease and hit the back of the net.
England managed to fight back with goals by Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch in the second half.
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But Croatia sealed their place in Austria and Switzerland with a magnificent long-range shot by Mladen Petric.
Richards still remembers that awful performance and is not shy to express his honest opinion about Carson’s display.
In fact, the ex-City star still blames him for missing out on a £1m bonus that he would have received if England made it to the Euro 2008 finals.
Richards told The Rest Is Football as he joined Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer: “The team we had that day…
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“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. 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.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
