Midfielder Joe Cole marked his first competitive start for England by scoring the opening goal in a 4-0 victory over Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier at sold-out Old Trafford Stadium yesterday in Manchester, England.
Northern Ireland kept England scoreless in the first half. But Cole started a spree of four goals in 15 minutes when he touched the ball to his right and fired a low shot past Maik Taylor. England also got goals from Michael Owen, Frank Lampard and on an own-goal.
England's Joe Cole celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 against Northern Ireland.
(Paul Barker - AFP)
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"It was a professional performance for 90 minutes," England Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said.
England leads Group 6 with 13 points, one more than Poland, which crushed Azerbaijan, 8-0.
In games in other groups, the Netherlands held off Romania, 2-0, and Freddie Ljungberg got two goals for Sweden in a 3-0 win over Bulgaria.
Philip Cocu and Ryan Babel scored a goal each to put the Netherlands in first place in Group 1 with 13 points. The Netherlands scored after just 45 seconds when Cocu beat Tiberiu Ghioane in the air to head home from a corner.
The Czech Republic, which is second in Group 1 with 12 points, needed an 87th-minute winner from Vratislav Lokvenc to beat Finland, 4-3.
In Milan, Andrea Pirlo scored off free kicks for Italy, which leads Group 5, in a 2-0 win over Scotland. Scotland has only a remote chance of qualifying.
Scotland's defense was confused on the first goal when Pirlo took the free kick from the top of the penalty arc instead of Francesco Totti, who also was lined up.
"The goalkeeper didn't know who was going to shoot," Pirlo said. "It worked well."
• SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina rallied to beat host Bolivia, 2-1. After falling behind, Argentina's Luciano Figueroa tied the score with a header and Luciano Galetti scored the winner in the 64th minute.
Argentina leads South American qualifying with 25 points.
• NORTH AMERICA: In San Jose, Costa Rica, Roy Myrie scored the decisive goal in the final seconds for Costa Rica's 2-1 win over Panama in a silent, empty stadium.
Costa Rica played its match behind closed doors as punishment for unruly behavior by its fans during a match against Mexico in February.
• AFRICA: World Cup quarterfinalist Senegal crushed Liberia, 6-1, to stay at the top of Group 1. South Africa also won.
