WORLD CUP GROUP SIX: Belarus 1 (Sitko 28) England 3 (Gerrard 11, Rooney 50, 74):AFTER ALL the polite appreciation of Wayne Rooney as a studious pro it is a relief to revel in his re-emergence as a talisman. Two goals here gave him five from the last three qualifiers. The first of them reinstated England's lead after Belarus had pulled level.
Overall, Rooney helped to send his country five points clear in their World Cup group after four successive victories at the start of the programme.
Before making way for David Beckham in the 87th minute, Rooney had put Steven Gerrard through, but after skipping past the goalkeeper, Yury Zhevnov, he sent a right-footed finish against the post. It was a measure of a valuable display the miscreant need not brood. Having spent so long as a problem, it must be a relief for Gerrard to be seen once more as a cause of dread to opponents.
Capello could stop fretting over the case history of one individual, but there were other matters to occupy him. England did not deal well with the deft response from Belarus, and the equaliser might have been conjured before the 28th minute.
Bernd Stange's side does pass and move attractively, just as Capello had predicted. The Italian would have not foreseen the disquiet of his own line-up, even after allowances had been made for the absence from the defence of the injured John Terry and Ashley Cole.
This team here was not as close-knit as the one that had ultimately swamped Croatia 4-1 in Zagreb.
On this occasion Gerrard was available and the manager had it in mind to let him express himself.
While a version of 4-4-2 was in use, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry were detailed to keep cover in front of the centre backs at the first sign of danger.
Conversely, Theo Walcott had a degree of liberty to express himself as a winger and Gerrard was free to move away from his station on the left.
Belarus, then, looked at a loss. They were powerless at the opener. Rooney excelled to hold the ball before a lay-off to Gerrard. His angled 25-yarder flew low past the left hand of the goalkeeper Zhevnov.
It was the Liverpool midfielder's first competitive goal for his country since the 3-0 defeat of Andorra in March 2007. On that night he had been battling the hostility towards the entire team of England fans embittered by a goalless draw in Israel four days before.
Capello most certainly has it in his nature to drop even a footballer of Gerrard's gifts, but not before every reasonable attempt has been made to assimilate him into the line-up. He is much too accomplished to be rejected out of exasperation.
The difficulty in Minsk for a while was that Belarus made England's set-up look fragile. With a 4-4-2 employed, Barry and Lampard could not plug all the gaps and Belarus, with men like Vitaly Kutuzov so poised, had justifiable hope.
Good humour or, at least, the stifling of quibbles is mandatory at the moment, but the near-inevitability of an equaliser would have peeved Capello.
In the 28th minute Kutuzov passed and teasing work from by Igor Stasevich had Wayne Bridge losing his balance before the cross was delivered. Neither Wes Brown nor Walcott dealt with the ball and Pavel Sitko headed in.
For all the dissatisfaction over that, this England side is not dependent primarily on resistance.
There had, after all, been 11 goals in the three group fixtures before they came to the Dinamo Stadium.
Perhaps too much weight is placed on Capello's rigour. His best work to date may actually have been to trust in the teenager Walcott and to stimulate a revival in Rooney.
The Manchester United attacker currently has a level of confidence to equal that of his great talent.
Perhaps he could have sent England into a 2-0 lead. After 28 minutes Lampard, while under pressure, still shaped a pass down the left. Heskey then showed strength and patience before sending over a deep cross. Rooney had been given the time he needed to get into position beyond the back post but, under pressure, headed into the side netting.
The Belarus leveller followed shortly, but Rooney is never the type to drop out of view.
The restoration of his predatory instinct was apparent in the 50th minute. Following a Bridge throw-in, the power and, to an extent, speed of Heskey took him free of two markers and Rooney, lingering on the edge of an off-side position, converted his low ball simply.
He would not stop there. England appeared more confident that they could contain Belarus and Capello, with a similar switch to that one utilised against Kazakhstan, sent Barry towards the left and paired Gerrard and Lampard in the middle. After 74 minutes, Bridge played in a ball that Rooney dummied before moving on so that Gerrard could send him clear. Despite the defence's efforts to harass him, Rooney calmly converted the chance. With him around, England have cause to believe they can become a fine side.
Guardian Service
BELARUS:Zhevnov; Molosh, Filipenko, Verhovcov, Omelyanchuk; Kulchy; Stasevich (V Hleb, 90), Putilo (Rodionov, 67), Sitko; Kutuzov (Strahanovich, 76), Bulyga. Subs not used:Veremko, Korytko, Pavlov, Sasnouski.
ENGLAND:James; Brown, Ferdinand, Upson, Bridge; Walcott (Wright-Phillips, 68), Lampard, Barry, Gerrard; Rooney (Beckham, 87), Heskey (Crouch, 70). Subs not used:Carson, Johnson, Lescott, Defoe.
Referee:T Hauge (Norway).
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