The Fan

England prosper without big names

The Editor — Mon, September 10th 2007

England 3 - Israel 0

Despite injuries to star name players England cruised past a standoff-ish Israel.

England produced one of their best recent team performances and registered their first win at the new Wembley. McClaren made some brave team selections recalling Heskey and Barry to the team, and both, along with Wright-Phillips impressed and could cause an interesting decision for the manager when the big names of Rooney, Lampard and Beckham are return from injury.

Wright-Phillips opened the scoring in the first half, and Owen doubled the score early in the second half. Mica Richards, another big name replacement for Gary Neville, scored his first England goal with a header.

Israel came to contain England and showed little ambition, allowing Barry to provide an excellent foundation for Gerrard, Cole and Wright-Phillips to attack from midfield from. Owen, although still not at his sharpest, showed signs of improvement, and Heskey gave a hard-working display and should have scored a deserved goal early in the game.

It is likely England will be tested more by Russia on Wednesday, but for now they and their coach will savour some positive headlines for a change.

Listed in: Competitions, Euro Championship, Countries, England

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