World Cup qual. - Rooney leads England to victory

Eurosport - Thu, 16 Oct 13:21:00 2008

Wayne Rooney scored a second-half brace as England made it four wins out of four in World Cup qualifying Group 6 with a 3-1 victory in Belarus.

FOOTBALL England celebrate v Belarus 2008 - 0

Steven Gerrard had given Fabio Capello's side an early lead in Minsk only for Pavel Sitko to equalise for the hosts midway through the first-half.

But Rooney poked home Emile Heskey's cross from the left, five minutes after the break, and then added a superb third after latching on to a Gerrard pass and finishing with aplomb.

For the second time in four days, England had produced a tepid opening 45 minutes.

The visitors had shown early promise with Rooney just inches away from prodding home a Theo Walcott cross from the right before the under-fire Gerrard gave England the lead with a goal reminiscent of so many he has scored for Liverpool.

The ball fell to the midfielder 25 yards out and he curled his shot past diving keeper Yury Zhevnov and into the bottom corner of the net.

Gerrard shot narrowly wide from long distance shortly after but the hosts had already signalled their intent with David James having to save a couple of fierce Dmitry Molosh efforts.

The Portsmouth keeper then had to deny Sitko and Vitali Kutusov before Bernd Stange's side got just rewards for their efforts.

Ihar Stasevich bought himself some time on the right-hand side of the penalty area with a neat trick to evade Wayne Bridge and his cross found Sitko who was left completely unmarked in the middle of the box to power a header past James.

England responded and Emile Heskey should have ended his international goal drought when he headed Frank Lampard's corner wide from close range and the Chelsea man - who was earlier the victim of a horror tackle by Anton Putsilo that should have earned the Belarus midfielder a red card - had a low drive well saved by Zhevnov.

Walcott, who failed to track Sitko for the goal, then had a shot saved by Zhevnov to conclude the opening period.

England came out after the interval a far better outfit and Rooney beat two men with a great run only to see his attempted curler into the bottom corner held by Zhevnov.

But he did strike shortly after as Heskey was afforded far too much space down the left and his cross was neatly poked home by the Manchester United striker from close range.

Capello replaced the ineffective Walcott and the tireless Heskey with Shaun Wright-Phillips and Peter Crouch respectively midway through the second-half and Rooney sealed the points with 16 minutes to go.

Rooney stepped over an infield pass from Bridge and then collected a crisp pass from Gerrard before drawing the defender into a challenge and lifting the ball over Zhevnov.

It took the 23-year-old's goal tally to five in the qualifying campaign and settled English nerves.

Gerrard should have added some gloss to the scoreline when he contrived to hit the post with the goal at his mercy late on but Capello will be delighted that his side continued their 100% start to the qualifying campaign and they lead the group by five points going into April's match with Ukraine at Wembley.

Croatia 4-0 Andorra

Two goals in each half gave Croatia a comfortable victory over Andorra in the other Group 6 game.

Tthe scoring was opened by midfielder Ivan Rakitic's superb 20-yard free-kick in the 16th minute.

Luka Modric had a 32nd-minute penalty saved by Jesus Alvarez after Victor Rodriguez's foul, but Ivica Olic slotted home the rebound to make it 2-0 at the break.

Modric poached a deflected cross from just inside the box to score the third on 75 minutes while Rakitic added his second from the penalty spot three minutes from time after Ildefons Lima's late tackle on Mario Mandzukic.

Lee Walker & / Reuters

Comment 155 - 174 of 234

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  1. hats off to you, GERRARD!
    i knew you could do it

    From ash, on Thu 16 Oct 1:45AM

  2. "Great win but Gerrard was @#$%. He couldn't­ stay in position and kept drifting inside. Only scored­ when out of position and should have scored late on put­ couldn't shoot with his left foot anf fluffed it­ with his right.

    Barry or Young of Villa would've­ been a better option on the left.( P,S Not a villa­ fan)"
    ,, ,,
    IDIOT.... Cap gave him a FREE role at­ last, and he proved him and Lamps can play together IF­ he gets that free role...

    From james, on Thu 16 Oct 1:42AM

  3. RB No:152.. I'm glad I'm not the only one that­ noticed that. I was afraid I was turning into an angry­ old man! BUT.. how can we think that? These were­ EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS!!! Some nice play by England­ though. Pity we couldn't see a bit more.

    From Biffo, on Thu 16 Oct 1:37AM

  4. to wansmithe,have you forgotton that England thrashed­ Germany 5 1

    From jim, on Thu 16 Oct 1:37AM

  5. Great win, but not great football. Rooney was­ outstanding, Gerrard was brilliant, Heskey played well,­ so to did Crouch when he came on, Lampard and Barry did­ better in their roles in the second half, but, not­ great football. Defensively we looked a bit scared,­ wide-eyed and on the back foot. Even Rooney had to come­ back and help, which he did brilliantly. Belarus were a­ very quick counter-attacking side, and they passed the­ ball very sharp and well. This got England in a bit of­ a flap at the back. The midfield were not getting back­ quick enough to help the lads at the back. Belarus­ looked like cutting them apart. This was even when­ England went 1-0 up!
    But alas England changed in the­ second half, and thank the stars above for this and­ Cappello. A massive change in all aspects of the field.­ The win is now 4 in 4, with 24 goals. Best start to a­ group stage. When Terry and Owen are fit to play back­ into the team, I will hope to be eating my words on the­ defensive bit. England have to play all these again in­ the future and I hope that they play a little better to­ make sure of this group, and surge into the next groups­ with all the other nations watching their backs and­ getting worried that England will be on the march to a­ long time coming final. I am a hoping fan, hoping that­ the wheels of Englands progress don't fall at the­ final hurdles again. And to hope that they never get­ the dreaded penalty shoot-out, and win in the 90­ minutes of open play. Rooney, Gerrard and the team, go­ for it 100% and your names can be added to the greats­ of the past, Moore, Hurst, Banks, Charlton etc...­ don't ya thing that is worth more than the FA Cup­ or the Champions league? C'mon England! Finish this­ tornament with everything you've got. Put the home­ of fooball back on the map.

    From Marcus, on Thu 16 Oct 1:29AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    england is the worst team in the world. they can win­ the world cup when there are only two teams compete,­ like san marino, luxembourg, malta

    From maggie, on Thu 16 Oct 1:28AM

  7. be fair would you all have settled for 3-1 before game­ ? i know i would have done comn england

    From kev, on Thu 16 Oct 1:26AM

  8. Just!Well done,ya damned if you do and your dammed if­ you don't!What was the score again?Oh yeah England­ won ....Sweet..........

    From Robert, on Thu 16 Oct 1:26AM

  9. To stephen d,
    Would you be so kind as to define the­ word "support"?
    How far does your so called­ "support" go then?

    From sappercommando25, on Thu 16 Oct 1:11AM

  10. Great win but Gerrard was @#$%. He couldn't stay in­ position and kept drifting inside. Only scored when out­ of position and should have scored late on put­ couldn't shoot with his left foot anf fluffed it­ with his right.

    Barry or Young of Villa would've­ been a better option on the left.( P,S Not a villa fan)

    From Moscow, on Thu 16 Oct 1:10AM

  11. There is still a long way to go so rejoicing now is not­ advisable. The English could still fail numerically as­ they did in spectacular fashion in the run up to Euro­ 2008. So don't get cocky my English friends.

    From sappercommando25, on Thu 16 Oct 1:09AM

  12. I 100% support pokercard, well said!!!

    From S, on Thu 16 Oct 12:44AM

  13. CONGRATS ENGLAND. U ARE JUST STARTING TO LIVE UP TO­ YOUR BIDDINGS. WELL DONE STEVIE GERRARD MY CAPTAIN­ FANTASTIC WITH THAT BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE. PLEASE KEEP­ IT UP BOTH AT CLUB AND INTRNTLL LEVELS. YOU ARE GRET­ ALWAYS.

    TOYIN, LIVERPOOL

    From Toyin ayobami, on Thu 16 Oct 12:31AM

  14. CONGRATS ENGLAND. U ARE JUST STARTING TO LIVE UP TO­ YOUR BIDDINGS. WELL DONE STEVIE GERRARD MY CAPTAIN­ FANTASTIC WITH THAT BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE. PLEASE KEEP­ IT UP BOTH AT CLUB AND INTRNTLL LEVELS. YOU ARE GRET­ ALWAYS.

    TOYIN, LIVERPOOL

    From Toyin ayobami, on Thu 16 Oct 12:31AM

  15. I only have the one comment...If I cant watch on TV­ then I aint interested....I will necer pay extra to­ watch our national team. You can forget the highlights­ as its 24 mins of football and the rest is pure­ adverts...

    Sorry but I will not feed the fat­ cats.....

    From pokercards2002, on Thu 16 Oct 12:24AM

  16. smanders, I appreciate your comments but I think,­ sadly, that our game is now a social stigma, there is­ too much hate in the game fuelled by a media that­ enjoys stirring the hatred.
    The labels attached to­ people now are pathetic, working people being derided­ and threatened because they happen to be from another­ part of the country or support a different team,
    There­ will be thicko, pathetic comments to follow after my­ contribution and that will sum up the whole scene as­ far as I am concerned.
    Thankfully, football for me now­ ranks the lowest of my interests, I leave it to the­ plonkers who get a real kick out of being arrogant and­ ignorant.

    From Ray S, on Thu 16 Oct 12:24AM

  17. If you don't support England 100% why bother­ writing on here? What are you worryied about then? Why­ waste your time and everyonelses that has to read your­ boring negaitve dribble. It seems a bit pointless to­ remark if you don't like England, couldn't care­ less or deem them in such a negaitve manner!! From­ several months back, I've always backed Capello and­ England because in all honesty he knows more about­ football than me and players like Beckham, Gerrard,­ Lampard, Rooney... have played at a higher level than­ myself and are much better. I've no right to preach­ and therefore my only job is to support my home nation­ through thick and thin (along with other sports) and if­ we lose take it on the chin like a man or if i was a­ woman errmm, a lady I suppose, lol! You wingers are­ worse than a baby who has spat out their dummy and YOU­ ARE JUST PATHETIC. Well done to England and I hope that­ our home nation qualifies for the world cup in 2010 in­ style!!!!!

    From stephen d, on Thu 16 Oct 12:23AM

  18. Agree with R B ITVs coverage of highlights was a joke­ but at least England won though

    From a.arundel, on Thu 16 Oct 12:22AM

  19. job well done lads, we're all behind u , english­ fan from Lebanon

    From Fadi, on Thu 16 Oct 12:18AM

  20. meanwhile i say thumbs up to the english team.this is­ the right time for england to win the world cup now­ they are blessed with two midfielders in the class of­ gerrard and lampard.you dont get those two in one­ country everytime.

    From franklin b concience, on Thu 16 Oct 12:17AM
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