James And Crouch Feature In Fourth England Win

Last updated : 15 October 2008 By Jim Bonner
David James and Peter Crouch both played their part for England tonight as the Three Lions triumphed with a 3-1 win in Belarus.

Jamo dealt with everything that the home side could throw at him and most importantly looked confident when doing it. He never looked like making a mistake and couldn't be blamed for conceding after Wes Brown ducked under the ball rather than heading it away like any good defender should...

Peter Crouch came on for Emile Heskey on the 70th minute but didn't have much to do in truth. He might have had a tap in if Steven Gerrard squared the ball to him rather than go past the 'keeper himself and somehow manage to hit the post!

His early goal was quality though and he generally played as well for his country as he does for Liverpool (about time too!) and the same can be said for Wayne Rooney who is hitting form too and scored two tonight.

His partnership with Emile Heskey is bearing fruit and it is difficult to forsee how Defoe and Crouch are going to start for England when the current front two are working so well together.

Overall, I'm very happy with our 100% record from four games, two of which you wouldn't have expected three points from a year ago. We played very well in the second half tonight after a shaky first half when Belarus showed that they aren't actually a bad team.

I am starting to feel proud about being English again and ironically much of that is down to a gritty Italian who takes no crap and has a plan B ready for when England aren't playing well.

In other news, Hermann Hriedarsson's dreams of playing in the World Cup aren't dashed yet after Iceland beat Macedonia 1-0.