England 5 - 0 San Marino: Wayne Rooney leads predictable rout

By SIMON STONE
Published on 13/10/2012 02:22

Best player and talisman. Now captain, penalty taker and fifth highest goalscorer. Wayne Rooney proved himself not just a jack of all trades but master of a few as well as he guided England to their expected World Cup victory over San Marino at Wembley.

SCORERS:

England - Rooney (35 pen, 69), Welbeck (38, 71), Oxlade-Chamberlain (77)

Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (Lithuania)

Attendance: 84,654

Rooney scored twice in front of a healthy 84,654 crowd, taking him to 31 international goals, one more than Alan Shearer, Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney.

Manchester United team-mate Danny Welbeck also bagged a brace before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain become England’s fourth youngest goalscorer.

The result took England three points clear at the top of Group H and in good heart for Tuesday’s crucial trip to Poland, even though Theo Walcott must be rated as extremely doubtful after being forced off inside the opening five minutes.

Rooney expressed his pride at moving up the goalscorers’ list. “There are some great players there and to be in the England top five is something to be proud of. I am only 26 so hopefully I will score a lot more,” he said.

“We created some good chances and maybe there was a bit of poor finishing but it’s not that easy when they put ten or 11 men behind the ball. It’s difficult to break them down and we had to create chances and we managed to do that, so obviously we’ll take the positives and it wasn’t a bad result.”

England manager Roy Hodgson revealed Walcott would spend the night in hospital after being taken off following a challenge by San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini.

Hodgson said: “It was a very bad challenge and he’s in hospital and will stay in hospital overnight. He’s having scans and tests and we can only hope it isn’t too bad, but it was a very poor challenge and we should have been up after three minutes with a penalty.” Had Simoncini’s airborne challenge on Walcott been executed by anyone other than a goalkeeper, it is difficult to imagine he would have stayed on the pitch – reckless and dangerous, it sent Walcott cartwheeling.

On the touchline, Hodgson was furious. He was still seething when it was confirmed Walcott’s evening was over and Aaron Lennon was sent on in his place. It merely delayed the procession. Rooney had already come close on a couple of occasions when Oxlade-Chamberlain brought an excellent save out of Simoncini from the edge of the area. Rooney then sent a far-post header from Tom Cleverley’s cross narrowly wide before Michael Carrick smashed a shot against the bar, which Welbeck should have turned home but somehow shovelled against a post.

It was difficult to be too critical of England given the limitations of their opponents provided so little space to operate in. But their passing wasn’t as crisp as it needed to be in order to open San Marino up and when the opener came, it was something of a surprise as Welbeck charged into the box and was upended by Simoncini.

Rooney had no hesitation in accepting even more responsibility and duly drove home the spot-kick. Within three minutes, England had another.

When Welbeck acrobatically turned home the winner against Sweden during Euro 2012, some questioned whether he meant it. The impudent manner in which the 21-year-old turned home Lennon’s cross, from a very similar position, left no room for debate.

Rooney was denied by a brilliant Simoncini save before the break, then Carrick’s shot was deflected away from danger immediately after it.

From the corner, Gary Cahill really should have scored but when Leighton Baines picked him out at the far post, the Chelsea man shinned it rather than catch the ball on the volley as he intended. Cahill then sent a header wide before Baines was inches away from curling home a 25-yard free-kick.

Hodgson decided to inject a bit more life into his midfield by bringing on Jonjo Shelvey for his debut and the 20-year-old’s introduction was immediately followed by another Rooney-Welbeck one-two.

Lennon was about to get a free-kick when Rooney fired home from the edge of the area, a landmark goal which means he has only four more men to overtake and become England’s greatest marksman.

Yet again, Welbeck followed up almost instantly. Once more at the near post, this time Cleverley providing the cross which he prodded home from close range.

Oxlade-Chamberlain made his own little bit of history 14 minutes from time, tucking himself behind Tommy Lawton, Michael Owen, and England’s youngest goalscorer of all, Rooney.

England: Hart, Walker, Cahill, Jagielka, Baines, Walcott (Lennon 10), Carrick (Shelvey 66), Cleverley, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Rooney (Carroll 73). Subs Not Used: Ruddy, Cole, Lescott, Shawcross, Milner, A Johnson, Defoe, Forster.

San Marino: A Simoncini, Fabio Vitaioli (Bacciocchi 83), D Simoncini, Brolli, Palazzi, Cibelli, Coppini (Buscarini 75), Rinaldi (Selva 78), Della Valle, Gasperoni, Cervellini. Subs Not Used: Valentini, Bollini, Marani, Mazza, Vannucci, M Vitaioli.