Five-star England into finals

England booked a place at the 2010 World Cup finals with a comprehensive 5-1 revenge mission over qualification rivals Croatia.

Wembley revenge on Bilic's men earns trip to South Africa

England booked a place at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa with a comprehensive 5-1 revenge mission over qualification rivals Croatia at Wembley. The build-up to the game had been as much about avenging the infamous defeat to Slaven Bilic's side on home soil which shattered hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 as it had been about securing a spot in South Africa next summer. With that in mind, England started like a team intent on revenge and their visitors could not cope with the pace and purpose as Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard scored two goals apiece, while Eduardo replied before Wayne Rooney hit a fifth. The Three Lions came roaring out of the traps and in the eighth minute Josip Simunic hopelessly clobbered Aaron Lennon, starting in place of Shaun Wright-Phillips, inside the penalty area and Lampard made no mistake from the spot. Gerrard then doubled Fabio Capello's side's lead 10 minutes later when the Liverpool captain meet an inch-perfect cross from the excellent Lennon to give Croatia goalkeeper Vedran Runje no chance. Lampard added a third in the 59th minute when nodding in a Glen Johnson cross and Gerrard also grabbed a brace when getting his head to a looping pass from Rooney in the 66th minute. Eduardo replied for Croatia in the 73rd minute after a bit of a scramble, but Rooney restored England's four-goal cushion when grabbing a simple goal in the wake of a mistake from Runje with 13 minutes remaining. Capello, the master tactician, selected and was rewarded with a blistering man-of-the-match performance from fleet-footed Tottenham star Lennon, who created two goals, plus a chance for Emile Heskey and one he wasted himself. And that was before half-time. To say Lennon ran Croatia ragged in front of the world's fastest man would be a supreme understatement. Even Usain Bolt must have been impressed at Lennon's electric turn of pace. If he had still been careering round Wembley in front of England's delirious fans when his team-mates had disappeared for their break, it would have been no surprise.

Fateful

He was certainly too fast for Simunic as he sped into the box on a fateful eighth minute charge. Simunic was complaining, but it was a clear penalty and Lampard kept his nerve and drove home from the spot in copycat fashion to his goal against Slovenia last weekend. Ten minutes later, Lennon was at it again. Hugging the right touchline, then delivering a perfect far-post cross for Gerrard, who headed it straight back where it had come from, and into the far corner. As things tend to happen in threes and Belarus had already done the Three Lions a favour by holding Ukraine to a draw in Minsk, meaning only a point was required to qualify, the action might have been over. Few would have complained. But, their lead coming from Lennon, the offensive from England, who maintain a 100 per cent record in qualifying Group 6, continued. Triumphant on his last visit, Bilic looked beaten and broken this time around as he tried to work out how to stop the onslaught. Gareth Barry and Lampard forced Runje into flying stops, Lennon attacked the Croatia defence, then raced clear onto Rooney's return pass, only to fluff his shot. Then Lennon sent Heskey clear. The Aston Villa man had been preferred to the free-scoring Jermain Defoe, his ability to bring others into play not in doubt. Finding the net remains a problem. Heskey has only done it seven times for his country. Runje prevented him making it eight.

Survivors

In stoppage-time, Heskey latched on to a defence-splitting Lampard pass. This time he got the ball stuck under his feet. Even this night of glory provided Capello with a reminder of the flaws in his team. Equally, the England coach could not have been too happy at the way his defence completely fell asleep at Darijo Srna's corner after the restart, allowing Mario Mandzukic a free shot at goal which he wasted. Moments later, Johnson got away with a penalty-box foul on Eduardo. On such moments can entire campaigns turn, as both Steve McClaren and the watching Sven Goran Eriksson testify. Under Capello, England know exactly where they are going. Before Defoe could replace Heskey, they had scored again, Johnson providing the cross for Lampard to steer into the corner. Not that they were in the mood to ease off. For Lampard, Gerrard and Barry in particular, as survivors from the last day of McClaren's reign, the pain will never quite go away. So it must have been very gratifying for Gerrard to see his header loop home midway through the second half. Eduardo tucked home a consolation for Croatia, who must now overhaul Ukraine in the battle to be runners-up, as Johnson's defensive lapses were exposed when Ivan Rakitic was allowed to cross. But England begin plans for the World Cup finals with confidence, as Rooney tapped home after a howler from Runje to increase England's tally to nine in two matches against a Croatia team they were not expected to finish above when the draw was made in January last year.

England	Team Statistics	Croatia
5	Goals	1
2	1st Half Goals	0
9	Shots on Target	5
3	Shots off Target	4
0	Blocked Shots	2
2	Corners	3
16	Fouls	9
8	Offsides	3
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
85.2	Passing Success	82.8
19	Tackles	13
78.9	Tackles Success	61.5
53.1	Possession	46.9
52.2	Territorial Advantage	47.8