After England's failure to reach the Finals of Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland it was essential that new manager, Fabio Capello's team made a good start to their qualification group games for the World Cup Finals in South Africa in 2010. The journey to the World Cup Finals started in September, 2008 when England played their opening qualifying game against Andorra.
Andorra 0 England 2
For his first competitive match in charge, Capello started with Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe as his strikers and gave Theo Walcott his first senior start. A scoreless first half caused Capello to introduce Emile Heskey and Joe Cole after the interval. Cole responded by scoring within three minutes and adding a second seven minutes later to get England off to a winning start.
Croatia 1 England 4
Four days later England faced a crucial game against the team that denied them a place in Euro 2008 - Croatia who had defeated them home and away in that competition. England travelled to Zagreb hoping to avoid defeat but in an excellent performance took revenge for the previous disappointment. In the first half Walcott scored his first international goal and went on to complete his hat-trick after the interval. Rooney also scored but Mandzukic's goal for Croatis was only a consolation. Walcott showed his pace and sharpness to give England another three points.
England 5 Kazakhstan 1
In October, 2008 England played their first home qualifying game against Kazakhstan at Wembley, the first time that the two countries had met. After another goal less first half as the visitors defended in depth, Rio Ferdinand scored the first seven minutes into the second half. An own goal from Kuchima further assisted England, only for Kazakhstan to reduce the lead four minutes later through Kukeyev. In the last fifteen minutes England added three more from Rooney (2) and Defoe a late sunstitute. David Beckham came on in the second half to equal Bobby Charlton's record of 106 appearances.
Belarus 1 England 3
A win in Belarus, another country that England were playing for the first time, maintained their perfect start to the World Cup campaign. Steven Gerrard gave them an early lead only for the home team to equalise through Sitko. It took two second half goals from Rooney to give England victory as Beckham made another second half substitute appearance.
England 2 Ukraine 1
In April, 2009 England reached the half way point of the qualifying stage and maintained their unbeaten record with a hard fought victory against the Ukraine. Peter Crouch scored after half an hour but with fifteen minutes remaining Andrii Shevchenko equalised. It looked as if England were going to drop their first points but five minutes from time, captain John Terry scored the winner.
Kazakhstan 0 England 4
England finished the season by playing two games in June. The return game against Kazakhstan was settled when England scored two goals just before half-time from Gareth Barry and Heskey. Two goals in five minutes midway through the second half from Rooney and a penalty by Lampard secured victory to give England maximum points from their first six games.
England 6 Andorra 0
At Wembley a comfortable win over Andorra was achieved when Rooney scored after four minutes. Lampard added a second and Rooney scored the third. Defoe replaced Rooney at the interval and scored twice. Peter Crouch scored number six.
England 5 Croatia 1
In September, Croatia came to Wembley seeking revenge and hoping to emulate their winning performance in Euro 2008 which saw the demise of previous manager Steve McLaren. However, their hopes were iextinguished as England enjoyed an emphatic victory. An early Lampard penalty was added to by Gerrard. In the second half both players added to their tally, Eduardo pulled one back but Rooney added a fifth. England had won their group and qualified for the World Cup Finals in South Africa with two games to spare.
Ukraine 1 England 0
With qualification secure, England suffered their only defeat, losing to Ukraine in October. A first half goal by Nazarenko spoiled England's hundred percent record.
England 3 Belarus 0
The final qualifying game was at Wembley against Belarus, Peter Crouch scored an early goal but it wasn't until the second half that Shaun Wright-Phillips added a second and Crouch completed the scoring in a very successful World Cup campaign.
Logan Holmes - A retired Primary School Principal who enjoys writing about football, particularly Tottenham Hotspur.
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