Free-scoring England are almost home

By Mike McGrath FABIO Capello’s England side are now top goalscorers among Europe’s World Cup qualifiers following their win over Kazakhstan in Almaty.

After surviving an early scare at Central Stadium, Capello’s jetlagged team eased to victory and now have 20 goals from their six straight wins – two more than Germany and three better than a Slovakia side that beat San Marino 7-0 on Saturday.

With one game left this season, goals have come from every outfield position on the pitch apart from left-back during the campaign.

That includes Wes Brown at right-back last August and Gareth Barry from his defensive- midfield position against Kazakhstan. Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard got the others.

“The goals are very important for the whole team,” Capello said. “Heskey played well, he scored, Rooney scored and I’m happy.

“I’m happy because goals improve mentality and confidence.

At this moment the confidence is very important because we are at the end of the season.”

Barry’s goal came against the run of play, with the Kazakhs almost grabbing the lead in the first minute by causing chaos in Robert Green’s penalty area, then having a goal disallowed for offside.

It was fairly straightforward after that, with Heskey tapping in the rebound after Steven Gerrard’s shot was spilled, Rooney scoring with a scissorkick and Lampard firing home a penalty. Four different goalscorers, four very different goals.

There were still some negatives for Capello to ponder, starting with a worrying performance by Glen Johnson, who was coming off a fine season at Portsmouth but seemed hesitant before being replaced by David Beckham.

With Gary Neville not included in the matchday squad, Beckham and Shaun Wright- Phillips filled in at right-back.

Barry got booked and will miss Wednesday’s Wembley meeting against Andorra, with Beckham finishing the match as a holding midfielder. Michael Carrick would be an obvious replacement but is injured.

“I will decide in the next training session and everything is possible,” said Capello, who will again be without the injured Rio Ferdinand.

The news got even better for Capello after the Kazakhstan win as England Group Six rivals Ukraine and Croatia battled to a 2-2 draw.

Providing the unthinkable does not occur at Wembley on Wednesday, England will have a 10-point lead to take into next season, with three qualifiers remaining for them.

“It would be another big step forward,” Capello added. “If we win we will have 21 points and it’s a lot.”

With one win next season expected to be enough to reach South Africa, Lampard said: “Our main objective is to qualify, the sooner we do that the better.”

Skipper John Terry believes his side are on course for where they want to be – but there is still more to come.

“I think the expectation is still there,” he said. “I wouldn’t say a big weight has been lifted because that pressure at international level is always there.

“We went to Andorra last year and found it difficult, and teams are getting a lot wiser, knowing how to play against the bigger teams, and making it difficult for us.

“But we are playing really well – and are on the way to where we want to be.

“We’re not there yet, we’re in a good position, but taking nothing for granted. We’ve got Andorra at home, and they can sit back and make it difficult. If we can get the seventh win out of seven, it will be fantastic.”

Lampard has hailed the contribution of striker Heskey since he was brought back into the England squad nearly two years ago.

Heskey’s international career looked to be over but Steve McClaren recalled him at the start of the 2007-2008 campaign and he has not looked back.

The Aston Villa striker netted his first competitive goal for his country in seven years in Almaty yesterday.

It was his first meaningful goal since being on target against Denmark during the 2002 World Cup in Japan.

But Lampard views Heskey as an unsung hero and insists there is more to his game than scoring goals.

Lampard admitted: “Emile is fantastic. His work-rate is brilliant and what he has done since he has come back into the squad has been top class.

“He is a great lad and he deserves a lot of credit. He deserved his goal against Kazakhstan but goalscoring is not all of his game.

“The beauty of Emile is the work ethic that he gives the team, the fact that he works his socks off. He is a target man for us, he is very unselfish in the way he plays but now and again he pops up with his goals. He is top drawer.”

Lampard slammed the surface in the Central Stadium and likened it to a “park pitch” but praised Capello’s side for getting to grips with the conditions.

He said: “The performance was good. I think the first 20 minutes was not so good. We struggled to come to terms with the pitch and maybe the journey and everything.

“Once we got into the game, once we scored a goal, we started to play better and move the ball more comfortably.

“The pitch was awkward. It was like a park pitch back home really. You play on those when you are a kid. We didn’t want to make any excuses about that before the game.”

Lampard is adamant England will only celebrate qualifying for South Africa once they have ensured their place in the finals.

He said: “The two goals before half-time were crucial.

When you come to these places, the longer the opposition are in the game, the more they keep faith and keep working hard.

“Once you go two goals up, it knocked the stuffing out of them a little bit and from then on we dominated the game without playing fantastically.

“We did a professional job. It is another step. We’ve won all the games so far. But we need a couple more to make sure of qualifying. We will only celebrate when we are there.”