Hertha Berlin's Josip Simunic will also push his claims for inclusion in the final cut.

BBC: Balaban gets Croatia call

And Defoe was quickly into the thick of the action, earning England a penalty after 56 minutes when he had his shirt tugged by Simunic inside the box.

CNN: Croatia crush England Euro dreams

It barely made any difference, before England were handed a lifeline in the shape of a penalty by the eagle-eyed assistant referee, who spotted Josip Simunic tugging back Defoe.

BBC: England 2-3 Croatia

Simunic, who has looked strong since his international debut in November last year, is joined in defence by two other Bundesligas players, Bayern Munich's Robert Kovac and Bayer Leverkusen's Boris Zivkovic.

BBC: Balaban gets Croatia call

His international career came to a controversial end when he failed to dismiss Croatia defender Josip Simunic after showing him a second yellow card in the game against Australia, and only sent him off after showing him a third.

BBC: Graham Poll shows a yellow card to Croatia's Josip Simunic