England hammer Andorra in World Cup qualifying

LONDON - England moved to within one win of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals after they hammered minnows Andorra 6-0 at Wembley.

Two goals apiece from Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe and one each for Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch made it seven wins out of seven in group six and put England 10 points clear at the top Wednesday.

One win from their remaining three games will be enough to see them through to the finals next summer and Fabio Capello was satisfied with his side’s showing.

“We played well tonight,” Capello said. “I liked it. We still need one more win but I am very pleased.”

The 6-0 win was England’s biggest margin of victory for nearly a decade.

Andorra were abject and England could have scored twice as many as they eventually managed.

Rooney put England ahead in the fourth minute but it took until the 29th minute for Lampard to double their lead. Rooney scored his second 10 minutes later. After the break, when Steven Gerrard and Rooney had been rested, England were again dominant.

Defoe, on as a substitute, made it 4-0 in the 73rd minute from close range after Beckham’s free kick had rebounded off the goalkeeper. The Tottenham Hotspur striker scored his second just six minutes ater and Peter Crouch bundled in a sixth nine minutes from time.

Lampard said Capello had made a massive impact on the side.

“We found ourselves again a bit,” Lampard said. “We had lost ourselves for a bit but now we are working as a group.”

Beckham, who was one of the best players on the pitch, has never scored at the new Wembley, but the former captain said that did not bother him.

“I don’t care as long as we keep winning and keep performing as we have done throughout the campaign,” he said.

Capello also praised the efforts of the fans who defied a strike on the Underground trains to produce an attendance of almost 58,000.

“I am very happy for the fans because they had lots of problems today, so I am happy we played well for them.”