England recorded a sixth consecutive World Cup 2010
qualification success with a 4-0 victory in Kazakhstan even if the
performance was less than impressive.
A difficult pitch did not help England who endured a nervy start
which saw Kazakhstan almost take a shock lead after 19 seconds,
then have striker Sergey Ostapenko's header ruled out for
offside.
England scored twice before half-time through Gareth Barry and
Emile Heskey after finally coming to terms with the difficult
conditions.
There was a slight improvement in the second half as England
found their range of passes and the home side began to run out of
steam.
Wayne Rooney and a Frank Lampard penalty completed the
formalities after the break as Fabio Capello's team all but ensured
a visit to South Africa next summer.
Lampard told Setanta Sports 1: "It's been a good week
for me, the Cup final was a big highlight.
But we had to focus on this game, it took us 20 minutes or half
an hour to get going and in the end we won comfortably. We can do
better, but it was a professional display.
We're on a confident run and we need to keep it going - we've
not qualified until we're qualified."
Three Lions coach Capello said: "It wasn't easy to play here,
the pitch wasn't fast like English pitches and it made passing very
hard.
They started strong, pressed a lot, and for us it was difficult,
but that's sometimes what happens when you play against a team who
aren't at the same level. It's another big step forward to
qualification."
