[Report originally from www.thefa.com] Frank Lampard sent England into the World Cup on a high with a stunning volley that beat Poland and put the Three Lions top of their qualifying group. Lampard thumped home the winner at Old Trafford after 81 minutes to beat the Poles 2-1 and hand the country a massive boost. It means England go into Germany 2006 having finished top of European Qualifying Group 6 with 25 points, one ahead of Poland. But more importantly it sends out a message that Sven-Goran Eriksson's side are ready to take on the world. If Lampard was the hero of the night, then Michael Owen deserves to be up there on the rostrum with him. He equalled Gary Lineker's record of 22 competitive goals for England when he scored in the first half and then crossed for Lampard's winner after Tomasz Frankowski had equalised. Joe Cole, too, was outstanding, as was Wayne Rooney but every player played their part in a morale-boosting victory. England begun the game in sprightly and energetic fashion, determined to put on a good display after qualifying for the finals by beating Austria on Saturday. They were without injured Steven Gerrard and Sol Campbell and missing suspended David Beckham. So Sven brought in Rio Ferdinand at centre-half, Ledley King in midfield and Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right. England almost went ahead after only five minutes when Lampard shocked the Poles by going for goal with a dipping free-kick from way out on the right - only for keeper Artur Boruc to tip it over the bar. Then the Chelsea man went even closer with a clever header from a Cole chip and Rooney, who had a wonderful game, followed suit with a stunning back-heel turn and a diagonal rising shot that only just cleared the bar from 20 yards. Cole, too, was on top form and he was to play a major part in England's opener after 43 minutes. Lampard's corner from the right deflected out wide to Cole, whose first-time shot was turned in at close range by the lurking Owen. The goal was no more than England deserved after dominating possession for so long, but the Poles have a remarkable away record in this group and were level before the break. Kamil Kosowski surprised England by breaking free down the right and his cross was thumped home on the volley by the unmarked Tomasz Frankowski, who had only been on the pitch a few minutes as a substitute. Amazingly it was the striker's seventh goal of this qualifying campaign, even though he has made only three starts! There was no time for England to respond before the half-time whistle went, but they quickly got back into their stride after the break. In fact, Rooney missed a golden chance to score after 52 minutes when Ferdinand's downward header found him unmarked from a Lampard corner - but he somehow lifted his volley over the bar from only six yards out. By this stage Cole was in determined mood. He had a goal ruled out for offside, correctly, following a Rooney pass. And then he swung over a perfect cross for Owen with 25 minutes to go, only for the Three Lions striker to see his header astonishingly saved from close range by Boruc. Eriksson opted to bring on Peter Crouch for Wright-Phillips after 68 minutes in a bid to break the deadlock but keeper Boruc was producing miracles for the Poles. He dived to his left to keep out Owen when the striker was set free by Rooney - and then pulled of a superb reaction save from a deflected Young cross. But the winner came with nine minutes to go when Cole fed Owen and he crossed cleverly for Lampard to hook home a superb effort on the volley from wide of the goal. edited by Guest (17/02/2006) |