World Cup qual - England hit Andorra for six

Eurosport - Thu, 11 Jun 08:33:00 2009

England cruised to an expected and easy 6-0 win over Andorra at Wembley to give Fabio Capello a 100 per cent record in World Cup qualifying.

FOOTBALL Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard celebrate after Rooney puts England 1-0 up against Andorra in a World Cup group 6 qualifier at Wembley Stadium, London - 0

Two goals apiece from Wayne Rooney and half-time replacement Jermain Defoe, plus strikes from Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch helped the home side to their seventh win in seven Group Six games.

England top their group with a maximum 21 points, 10 ahead of both Croatia and Ukraine, meaning that only a total collapse and an unlikely combination of results elsewhere could prevent them from qualifying as group winners.

Rooney's double strike made him the top scorer in European qualification for the 2010 finals in South Africa, with eight goals.

Industrial action on the London Underground meant that the national stadium was around a quarter under capacity despite almost selling out, but the 57,000 or so present would have been impressed with England's possession and in particular a virtuoso performance from David Beckham, who controlled the the match from central midfield where he started in place of the suspended Gareth Barry.

Sitting in the deeper, quarterback-style position he occupied at Milan this season, the 34-year-old midfielder dictated the tempo in open and set play and will surely be courted by top European clubs over the summer.

Portsmouth full-back Glen Johnson - selected despite being one yellow card away from a suspension - also looked composed in attack and defence and was named man-of-the-match.

The alleged Chelsea and Liverpool transfer target was involved in five of England's goals - including three direct assists - as he operated almost as a right-winger.

Manchester United forward Rooney opened the scoring on four minutes with a far-post header from Johnson's cross just a minute after hitting the woodwork with a close-range, reflex effort.

Retiring goalkeeper Koldo Alvarez made some good saves but was only at fault for one of England's goals as a part-time Andorra side lent credence to the theory that Europe's football minnows should play pre-qualifying rounds before entering the group stage proper.

It was 2-0 just before the half hour when Johnson again found space on the flank, threading the ball through to Theo Walcott. The Arsenal man dragged the ball back to Lampard who made no mistake with a low finish into the bottom right.

Ten minutes later, Rooney got his second and England's third with a sweet volley into the top right from another Johnson cross.

The half-time stats said it all: 83 per cent possession to the hosts and 15 shots to Andorra's sole attempt, a long-range effort straight at the otherwise bored Robert Green.

Capello denied Rooney a chance of a hat-trick by bringing Defoe on at the break, while Aston Villa winger Ashley Young was also given 45 minutes in place of Steven Gerrard, who had played in an unfamiliar role on the left.

Tottenham striker Defoe did not start especially well, dragging a close-range finish wide of the far post and creeping offside when given a free route to goal by Walcott.

But midway through the second half he scored twice in three minutes to take his England record under Capello to five goals.

First, Beckham played a short corner routine to Johnson, whose excellent cross was headed into the bottom left by the former West Ham and Portsmouth hit-man.

Then Defoe pounced from close range after Koldo made his only error in spilling a long-range Beckham free-kick.

Peter Crouch sealed the win with 10 minutes left, almost embarrassed after he was allowed to scuff the ball past Koldo following a defensive mix-up by the visitors.

Croatia and Ukraine both have a game in hand, but with four matches each left to overhaul the 10 point gap England are guaranteed at least a play-off place - and are one win from securing a starting spot at next year's World Cup finals.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 150 - 169 of 189

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  1. HAHA, winning these @#$% teams doesn't mean a­ thing. When they face teams like France and Spain,­ England will lose like a noob as usual

    From sports_gaming1986, on Thu 11 Jun 11:01AM

  2. LIKE I SAID 7 WINS FROM 7 !!!!!!!

    THAT IS REALITY!
    WHO­ KNOWS WHERE WE'LL FINISH IN THE WORLD CUP BUT WE­ ARE PLAYING BETTER THAN BEFORE SO LETS WAIT AND SEE

    From cartman, on Thu 11 Jun 10:51AM

  3. 173 - like I said, get yourselves a REALITY CHECK!!­ When you can horse "big" national teams like­ those I listed, then you can say you are formidable!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Thu 11 Jun 10:45AM

  4. 7 WINS FROM 7 GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    NOT JUST BASED ON LAST­ NIGHTS RESULTS YOU TW*T

    From cartman, on Thu 11 Jun 10:32AM

  5. ENGLAND ARE CAPABLE, AND IT'S BEGINNING TO­ SHOW??... Yes, you were playing the mighty ANDORRA, the­ biggest and most successful footballing nation.. EVER!!­ REALITY-CHECK TIME, you feckin' eejits!! When you­ can beat Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina,­ Germany with relative ease, then you can say you are­ capable!! Feck me!!.. Bring on SAN MARINO!!.. Or the­ FAROE ISLANDS!!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Thu 11 Jun 10:26AM

  6. If ever I had the chance, I would love to ask­ Capello,why it is, that he puts on Beckham's best­ friend Gary Neville, who has 86 odd caps, and will now­ obviously, be allowed to add to these caps, and not­ give that wonderful striker, Michael Owen, a chance, to­ add to his 80 odd caps?

    Nobody, can convince me, that­ Owen is finished, he just needs to be given the chance,­ and the confidence. Obviously, not a favourite of­ Capello's I suppose. What a waste of a great­ player, but then, we unfortunately, still live in the­ Beckham age!!

    From danaperrin, on Thu 11 Jun 10:15AM

  7. England played really well,and Andorra were rubbish,WE­ COULD OF PLAYED WITHOUT A GOALKEEPER!!!!!!

    From Gabriella, on Thu 11 Jun 9:36AM

  8. england played a good game.i think we all know what­ they are capable of and it is begginning to show.they­ have just about the best combination of players in the­ squad and they have players from some of,if not the­ greatest football clubs in the world ie chelsea,manu­ etc.ITS UNDERSTANDABLE FOR ENGLAND TO HAVE HATERS but­ cmon guys lets give the boys a chance.atleast they have­ earned themselves that...as at now.

    From andrew, on Thu 11 Jun 9:21AM

  9. I don't know where Anthony I. comes from but I­ don't think it is England, maybe Ireland. Where­ ever he is from hasn't he heard of optimism, hoping­ and praying that for once your team that you are­ rooting for will come good, will set us all alight with­ enthusiasm, will give us some thing to cheer about and­ hold our heads up high. Nearly all non-English hope and­ pray that England will get knocked out of the World Cup­ finals, is it jealousy? Or what is it that makes them­ so much against a certain team doing well for a change,­ alright so England hasn't a lot of big teams in­ their group to beat, but is that their fault, it was­ the luck of the draw. I always hope that Wales,­ Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland manage­ to get through to the finals, it would be lovely to see­ them all there. Don't knock the English fans, we­ all need some thing to cheer for and hope in our hearts­ that things will go well for us and who knows will win­ the World Cup again. I know I am maybe living in cloud­ cuckoo land, but we all have to have a dream and mine­ is to see England lift that Cup high once again,­ don't all you other countries hope for the same.­ England For Ever.

    From Lizzy Ingram, on Thu 11 Jun 9:18AM

  10. I don't know where Anthony I. comes from but I­ don't think it is England, maybe Ireland. Where­ ever he is from hasn't he heard of optimism, hoping­ and praying that for once your team that you are­ rooting for will come good, will set us all alight with­ enthusiasm, will give us some thing to cheer about and­ hold our heads up high. Nearly all non-English hope and­ pray that England will get knocked out of the World Cup­ finals, is it jealousy? Or what is it that makes them­ so much against a certain team doing well for a change,­ alright so England hasn't a lot of big teams in­ their group to beat, but is that their fault, it was­ the luck of the draw. I always hope that Wales,­ Scotland, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland manage­ to get through to the finals, it would be lovely to see­ them all there. Don't knock the English fans, we­ all need some thing to cheer for and hope in our hearts­ that things will go well for us and who knows will win­ the World Cup again. I know I am maybe living in cloud­ cuckoo land, but we all have to have a dream and mine­ is to see England lift that Cup high once again,­ don't all you other countries hope for the same.­ England For Ever.

    From Lizzy Ingram, on Thu 11 Jun 9:09AM

  11. time is spent criticising the fans of that team because­ your own team is too poor to even merit discussion.

    From Johnny W, on Thu 11 Jun 9:05AM

  12. Anthony, dearest, your post screams of bitterness and­ jealousy.

    I think from what you yourself said in the­ post, Ireland as a football team doesn't even­ deserve mentioning in the same conversation as­ England.

    'God love­ you but you're still­ convinced that string 2 wins­ together and you've­ got a world cup winning team­ again'

    I wonder if­ the ability to count eludes you. Not only is it 7­ straight wins, admittedly against poor opposition, it­ is also the best goal difference and best position of­ ANY team in ANY equivalent level group. I wonder where­ you got 2 from... and I also wonder where you got the­ almost bitterness induced perception that we must now­ all think we have a world cup winning team? What any­ football fan of any nationality knows, is that England­ is one of the top international teams in the world and­ that we will probably be challenging in the later­ stages of the world cup, and our performances in all­ the qualifying campaign so far backs this­ up.

    'I'm in awe of the eternal optimism of­­ English football fans, and you're innate ability­ to­ ignore reality'

    First of all, you SHOULD be in­ awe, a football fan isn't a football fan if they­ aren't optimistic. Without mentioning any other­ team in the close vicinity to England with a hopeless­ football team, at least we have reasons and cause for­ optimism. I wonder which virtual 'reality' you­ are referring to, maybe one in which we didn't have­ 100% record so far in this campaign? Or maybe you are­ trying to suggest that the team has not changed at all­ and so it can only do what it did in the past? Na, even­ you aren't that ridiculously naive.

    You then come­ up with a totally contrived comfort story for yourself­ that we think the team is the best because they are­ English? We believe we can compete because a lot of the­ players are world class.

    You say we need to get a­ life, because our team has a good chance and we support­ them, yet your tim

    From Johnny W, on Thu 11 Jun 9:02AM

  13. james t every time beckham got the ball the crowd were­ shouting shoot not booing as he has never scored at­ wembley for england ok !!

    From bernie6969, on Thu 11 Jun 9:01AM

  14. shoooooot really well it def sounded liked a boo

    From james t, on Thu 11 Jun 8:58AM

  15. dont get ahead of yourselves england fans you beat one­ of the worst teams in int football even an england­ legend j greaves said he and the old school could have­ beat them lol and he is right still cant work out why­ the fans booed beckham anyone know?

    From james t, on Thu 11 Jun 8:57AM

  16. 7 games 7 wins and if you look around the only over­ team to do that is spain and there group looks pi*s­ poor

    From djammersod, on Thu 11 Jun 8:56AM

  17. Comment 155, the fans were NOT booing Beckham. They­ were saying SHOOOOOT! Get your ears cleaned out mate!

    From Mr.L, on Thu 11 Jun 8:54AM

  18. al3csandr1oan you talk cr*p mate you know *uck all

    From djammersod, on Thu 11 Jun 8:50AM

  19. james t they diden't boo him they wear saying­ shoooooooot

    From djammersod, on Thu 11 Jun 8:49AM

  20. Am a Cameroonian Mighty RED fan and a perfect England­­ fan for the world cup(hey dont question my Cameroonian­­ patriotism nor my Pan-Africanism).I want England to­ get­ the SA Worldcup,so these are my proposals to­ Fabio:
    1)We­ need to have at least two friendlies with­ African­ countries say Nigeria,Ivory Coast etc to play­ under hot­ climate say 3pm to see if our lads can­ resist the­ sweats and heat in 90mins.(Remember next­ year is­ SA)
    2)To sideline critics,lets have a friendly­ against­ Spain and Italy.
    3)Lets cross the globe and­ fly to­ Latin America and have a friendly with Chile,­ Peru or­ Ecuador that have just beaten Argentina.
    4)If­ time­ permits we can cross over to Asia and test­ ourselves­ with Japan or Singapore.
    WITH THESE WE CAN­ REALLY­ ASSESS OURSELVES IF WE ARE DOING WELL IN OTHER­ CLIMATIC­ CONDITIONS LIKE ADVERSE TEMP, HIGH LATITUDE­ ETC.
    THANKS­ FABIO AND SALUT SG AND THE REST OF THE­ ENTIRE ENGLISH­ TEAM

    From Michael, on Thu 11 Jun 8:44AM
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