England 4-0 Slovakia: Rooney brace, trio
injured
Wayne Rooney scored twice to share top billing
with record breaker David Beckham as England convincingly swept
Slovakia aside at Wembley today.
Rooney capped an outstanding performance with his
second-half brace, the first coming with a header from a Beckham
cross, the perfect way for the veteran midfielder to celebrate his
109th cap.
And, apart from a possible striker shortage, it was
part of a fine day for Fabio Capello's team, who really will be in
the mood to party if they manage a repeat performance in
Wednesday's key World Cup qualifier with the Ukraine.
Prior to this evening, Heskey had found the net just
five times in an international career boasting 51 caps, dating back
to 1999. But as the debate, of which Fabio Capello played no part,
about how to get the best from Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard
raged on this week, Heskey's presence to face Slovakia was always
assured.
And his reward for the perseverance that now makes him
such a pivotal figure in Capello's blueprint for South Africa 2010
came after just eight minutes when Rooney slipped the first of a
series of excellent passes to Gerrard.
Resplendent in a new white shirt, nicely designed but
at odds with the mud-heap on which he must perform, the Liverpool
skipper, roaming inside at will from his left-side station, evaded
capture with a magnificent drag back before drilling a low cross to
the near post.
Martin Skrtel appeared to have the situation under
control. Heskey though had sneaked up on his blind side and prodded
home his first England goal in almost six years.
Two minutes later it was Rooney delivering the killer
ball, a cross right onto the unmarked Heskey's head. To the Aston
Villa forward's total disbelief, a feeling shared by a large but
not quite capacity crowd, the ball sailed over after he made
contact from about four yards.
It was one of those head-scratching moments Heskey has
produced so many of down the years. Nevertheless, it was sad that
he lasted barely five more minutes before he was replaced by
Carlton Cole, presumably to protect an Achilles injury he had
aggravated.
But it was the half-time arrival of Beckham for his
record 109th cap that really got the fans excited. When Steve
McClaren was dealing with the conundrum of pairing Gerrard with
Frank Lampard in midfield, the feeling was always of a man trying
to shoehorn his best players into one team without really knowing
how it was going to work.
No such feeling exists about the man now in charge. As
Rooney and Gerrard have already proved, they can easily interchange
from starting positions that have the Manchester United man
providing the closest support to a line leader and Gerrard, who
cannot have the role he has done so well with for his club, driving
at opposition defences from slightly wider or at an
angle.
Had Heskey's finishing, Aaron Lennon's crossing or
Frank Lampard's set piece delivery been better, England would have
been out of sight before Slovakia had their first decent
shot.
As it was Miroslav Karhan and Robert Vittek both tested
David James either side of an unconvincing double save from Stefan
Senecky that denied first Lennon, then Gerrard.
Lennon did well enough on his first England appearance
for two years but, like Shaun Wright-Phillips and, to an extent,
Theo Walcott, his final ball remains patchy and cannot be relied
upon.
In contrast Beckham's crosses and free-kicks remain top
drawer. Had an offside John Terry not finished off a Peter Crouch
header that was going in anyway, Beckham would have supplied
England's second 10 minutes before it actually arrived through a
header for Rooney.
England's third arrived when Michael Carrick supplied
the pass for Frank Lampard to finish. And Rooney had the last word,
with a delightful chip, to round off a very satisfying evening.