Wayne Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in a European
Championships finals as England beat Switzerland in the sweltering heat of
Coimbra.
Rooney, aged 18 years and 237 days, struck midway through the first half to
prompt England's recovery from the disappointment of the France defeat, and was
also responsible for forcing Swiss keeper Jorg Stiel into conceding an own
goal.
England though were far from convincing and it was only when Switzerland were
reduced to 10 men for the last 30 minutes that they looked comfortable as Steven
Gerrard wrapped the game up.
Both sides made just one change from their opening Group B games with John
Terry replacing Ledley King after recovering from a hamstring injury while the
Swiss had Fabio Celestini in for Johann Vogel, who had been red-carded against
Croatia.
Eriksson did spring one surprise in that, unlike the Swiss, he opted not to
play a diamond formation and the players spread out in a traditional 4-4-2
line-up.
The Swiss started the more brightly though with several Hakan Yakin set-pieces
causing some discomfort in the England ranks - from one of which Gerrard nearly
flicked a header into his own net.
Apart from a couple of Ashley Cole runs down the left, England made little
headway in the opening 20 minutes with the strikers having barely a touch.
Terry made a good block to intercept Alexander Frei's 20-yard drive before
there was finally a positive move by England. Frank Lampard's neat chip nearly
put in Rooney but the Everton teenager managed only to pick up a caution for
following through on keeper Stiel.
But in the 23rd minute England went ahead with their first decent move of the
match. Celestini lost the ball in the middle of the park, Gerrard surged forward
purposely before knocking a pass back to Beckham.
The England skipper picked out Michael Owen with a beautiful pass and he
paused before dinking a short cross for Rooney to thump a close-range header
past Stiel for his sixth England goal.
Murat Yakin's tackle stopped Owen from adding to the score then Paul Scholes
had a 15-yard shot blocked.
England threatened again as Cole fired in an excellent cross, then David James
was forced into a save by Stephane Chapuisat after Terry was guilty of conceding
possession.
As the half drew to a close, the Swiss began to press England again and Murat
Yakin tried his luck from 25 yards but was foot too high, then from a 20-yard
indirect free-kick missed the post by an even closer margin.
Swiss boss Kobi Kuhn replaced Chapuisat with Daniel Gygax at the break and the
22-year-old almost made an immediate impact, heading past the angle with David
James in no man's land.
Raphael Wicky drove a yard wide after a dangerous run from midfield then
England wasted a promising situation when Sol Campbell won a header from a
free-kick but tried to pick out Owen instead of going for goal.
Another Beckham cross ricocheted off Owen and Rooney but bounced out, then
England's task was made much easier when West Brom full-back Bernt Haas was sent
off for a second yellow card with 30 minutes left.
Rooney threatened again after another searching Beckham pass, then Owen
bobbled a shot to Stiel from a great position.
Scholes and Owen made way for Owen Hargreaves and Darius Vassell as Eriksson
attempted to shut up shop, and almost immediately it was 2-0.
Hargreaves launched a mighty clearance downfield, Vassell did excellently to
win possession and find Rooney who blasted a shot against the near-post, the
ball then bouncing off Stiel's back and into the goal.
Gerrard ended the contest when Gary Neville squared the ball and the Liverpool
midfielder beat Stiel at the near-post from 10 yards.
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