Victory over Wales puts a smile back on Eriksson’s face
LONDON: England have taken a huge step towards booking their ticket to Germany for the 2006 World Cup after outclassing Wales with an impressively controlled performance at Old Trafford.
Inspired performances from Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney laid the foundations for a 2-0 win that featured the best, and the worst, of David Beckham.
The England skipper marked his return to Old Trafford by scoring one of his finest goals in an England shirt to kill off the Welsh after Frank Lampard had given England an early lead.
A dipping, swerving strike of awesome precision from 35 yards was exactly the tonic Beckham needed after the criticism he had received in the wake of lacklustre displays at Euro 2004 and in the opening qualifiers.
But the Real Madrid midfielder quickly ruined the redemptive impact of his goal by getting himself booked for a petulant hack at Wales left-back Ben Thatcher.
The yellow card means that he will be suspended for Wednesday’s trip to Azerbaijan, although a hairline fracture of a rib means he would not have travelled in any case.
England’s head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson may have been unimpressed with yet another flash of the ill discipline which has frequently tempered Beckham’s effectiveness, but he was not about to criticise his captain in public.
“Let’s talk about his goal,” was the Swede’s response to suggestions Beckham had been irresponsible.
“It was very important for us – as long as it is 1-0 you are never calm on the bench. Two-nil killed the game and we were very happy.”
Eriksson was happy with the operation of his three-pronged attack with Rooney, terrorising the Welsh defence with his runs from behind strikers Michael Owen and Jermain Defoe.
Owen, who will not have done his first team prospects at Real Madrid any harm with a lively display, is guaranteed a place after Eriksson confirmed that he would stand in for Beckham as captain.
“I haven’t seen him that bright for a long time,” Eriksson said of the striker. “It (three strikers) worked very well. The organisation and the balance of the team was very good.
“Honestly I have not decided whether we will continue with it against Azerbaijan but at least we showed we have another solution we can use.”
Mark Hughes, whose five-year reign as Wales manager ends with Wednesday’s match against Poland, admitted his side were now battling for second place in Group Six after taking just two points from their first three matches.
Hughes believes England, bolstered by the return of Ferdinand from suspension and Rooney from injury, will now comfortably win the group.
“It was a difficult day for us but we have got to pick ourselves up because we have got a big game against Poland on Wednesday and it is important that we do not reflect too much on this,” said Hughes.
“England are a good international side at the moment and it is no disgrace to be beaten by them.” – AFP
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