ENGLAND'S qualification for next summer's World Cup finals was confirmed on Saturday thanks to a performance that combined controlled and creative midfield play with disciplined defending and clinical attacking.

The only problem for Sven Goran Eriksson, as he prepares his so-called 'golden generation' for the tournament that should be the defining moment of their careers, is that it was not his side that produced it.

Holland's sensational 2-0 win in the Czech Republic ensured England would finish as one of Europe's two best-placed runners up no matter what happens in Wednesday's final group game against Poland.

It also overshadowed yet another bitterly disappointing display from England as Frank Lampard's 25th-minute penalty earned a sluggish 1-0 win over Austria.

Holland's victory - earned in no small part thanks to two crucial assists from Chelsea winger Arjen Robben - ensures England will enter their final game of a qualifying campaign assured of success for the first time in 20 years.

Yet as Eriksson's side were told of the result from Prague as they dined in Manchester's Lowry Hotel on Saturday night, they were also left to digest one rather more unpalatable fact. Play as they have done this season, and their stay in Germany will be a short one.

"It's just nice to qualify," said David Beckham, who could at least celebrate a successful end to an otherwise wretched day. The England skipper, who had been forced to relinquish penalty-taking duties after three successive misses, became both the first England skipper to be sent off and the first England player to be red-carded twice when he was dismissed in the second half of Saturday's win.

"The team were totally overjoyed when they found out the Holland score. The other results have gone for us for a change.

"At the start of the group, we were playing great and everyone was saying that we were going to win the World Cup.

"Now we're at the end, people are saying we're playing the wrong way and we've got the wrong manager. This manager has got us through to the World Cup again. He's got to take a lot of credit for that and so have the players."

In the cold light of day, England's Group Six campaign has achieved its objectives. The team are at their sixth successive major finals and, as the history books show, qualifying form is of little or no relevance once the real business begins. Germany were humiliated 5-1 on home soil in the run-up to the last World Cup - nine months later, they were playing in the final.

Nevertheless, the last year has provided more questions than answers to an England boss who still shows no signs of justifying his bank-busting £4.5m-a-year salary.

Against an outfit still reeling from the loss of their manager, England struggled to impose their authority during an opening hour in which a number of age-old problems continued to rear their head.

It was all hands to the pump once Beckham saw red with half-an-hour to go but, while England's players deserve credit for finally showing some much-needed resilience, their frantic defending was in marked contrast to the assured manner in which Brazil saw out time during the two sides' infamous World Cup quarter-final.

"I think it was the best we have played this season without doubt," claimed Eriksson, casually glossing over the paucity of competition for that particular accolade. "We can play better football, but I was pleased with the players.

"We created good chances in the first half and we were brilliant in defending when we were ten versus 11."

The defence was indeed sound, with Sol Campbell justifying his inclusion ahead of Rio Ferdinand before being forced off with a hamstring problem, and both Luke Young and Jamie Carragher proving able understudies to first-choice full-backs Gary Neville and Ashley Cole.

But, as ever, it was in midfield that England found themselves attempting to muddle through. No-one will deny that, as individuals, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are two of the best midfielders in the world. Put them together and the total is considerably less than the sum of the parts.

Aware of their defensive responsibilities, the duo spent much of the first half patrolling five yards in front of the back four. Neither looked comfortable and the gap between midfield and attack often became so large it was all but unbridgeable.

When they did break forward, they found themselves instinctively making the same run and, with both Beckham and Joe Cole constantly wanting to come inside from their respective wings, England's engine room was often little more than an overcrowded mess.

The only way to accommodate both Lampard and Gerrard is to switch to a 3-5-2 and, if Eriksson is to refuse to do that, he must drop one or the other in favour of a holding midfielder.

Neither Scott Parker nor Michael Carrick is as skilful as England's first-choice pairing, but football is not simply about picking the 11 best players and telling them to get on with it. Greece's success at Euro 2004 and Real Madrid's repeated failings in the Champions League highlight both sides of that coin.

As it was, England were grateful to the much-maligned Peter Crouch for guiding them home. The Liverpool striker has been widely criticised in the aftermath of Saturday's game yet, without him, Holland's win might well have been rendered irrelevant.

Ridiculed for his height and perceived lack of aerial ability, Crouch had a direct hand in all three of England's best chances.

His lay-off allowed Gerrard to release Michael Owen in the 22nd minute, only for former Sunderland goalkeeper Jurgen Macho to beat out the Newcastle striker's low shot.

Undeterred, Crouch continued to lead the line and, when his flick on fell at Owen's feet two minutes later, Austrian defender Paul Scharner tugged him forcefully enough to earn the wrath of referee Luis Medina Cantalejo.

Crouch also set up Lampard for a stoppage-time strike that Macho brilliantly turned around the post but, in between times, Cantalejo assumed the game's central role.

The Spanish official - who had sent Beckham off for swearing at a linesman in a Real Madrid game last January and refused Owen a cast-iron penalty on the stroke of half-time - booked the England skipper for an innocuous aerial challenge with Andreas Ibertsberger.

He had further words when Beckham clattered into the same player 60 seconds later, and finally lost patience when Ibertsberger collapsed on the edge of the England penalty area.

Television replays showed contact was minimal if it existed at all, but Beckham's conduct following his first booking undoubtedly contributed to his dismissal.

"It was not a case of red mist," claimed the captain, who has improved his disciplinary record considerably since seeing red against Argentina in 1998. Perhaps, but a different kind of red still looked likely from the moment he began charging around like a man possessed.

Result: England 1, Austria 0.