Croatia boss tells England fans: Don't blame Carson, he was your best player

Carson, the 22-year-old playing his first competitive international, allowed Niko Kranjcar's 35-yard shot to squirm underneath him in the eighth minute to bring back memories of Paul Robinson's air-shot blunder in Zagreb.

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Croatia went on to complete a 3-2 victory on an emotional and dramatic night at Wembley but Bilic said: "There are no scapegoats. We were the better team tonight and that's it. It happened with Robinson in Zagreb, okay you can blame him for the second goal but he was by far the best Englishman on the pitch and so Carson was tonight."

Ivica Olic scored Croatia's second in the 14th minute before England launched a second-half comeback which saw Frank Lampard score from the penalty spot and Peter Crouch smash home from close range after expertly controlling a David Beckham cross.

Mladen Petric netted the winner which eliminated England in the 77th minute.

And Bilic, who played for West Ham and Everton, was adamant that Croatia were by far the superior team and deserved to go through as leaders of Group E.

He said: "It was a great night and we fully deserved to win. Maybe a lack of concentration stopped us scoring more goals.

"We showed great character. It is hard to win here, especially to come back when they equalised. That's why we totally deserved it tonight.

"Well done to England, they were part of an excellent football match."

He went on to defend England manager Steve McClaren and the quality of English football.

He said: "There is nothing wrong with England football. This is by far the most difficult group. There were three teams who deserved to go through to the European Championships. You were just unlucky to get this group. I have watched all the teams and this is difficult.

"I read in the papers that no Croatian player would start in your team. That's ridiculous. Wake up.

"I love your players. They are jumbo jets of football but we are players in a small country who can play good football. We have players with great skill and good lungs."

Bilic also believed England were lucky to have been given their penalty when Josip Simunic was adjudged to have pulled back Jermain Defoe.