And then there were only three

The resignation of Croatia's Miroslav Blazevic leaves three coaches remaining in their jobs from the 32 who went to the 1998 World Cup.

Last week Blazevic battled successfully to secure the Croatian FA's backing to stave off fierce public criticism drawn by a spate of bad results and a major political gaffe.

He was widely seen as overstepping his powers when he encouraged his players to sign a petition - supported by militant farright groups - slamming the centre-left government of Prime Minister Ivica Racan and President Stipe Mesic.

"I lost credibility in the public and that has destroyed me," Blazevic said yesterday.

Only Scotland's Craig Brown, Chile's Nelson Acosta and Iran's Jalal Talebi - who resigned and was then reinstated this year - are still at the helm.