Andorra 0 England 2

 It was always going to be difficult for England to sail away from this qualifier on a parabolic upcurve. As could only be expected, international minnows Andorra packed the defence and made it difficult for England to break through. England toiled in the first half but, apart from a handful of surging runs from Theo Walcott down the right, showed little guile. They left the field at half-time to a 0-0 scoreline and a stadium echoing with boos.

Fortunately England did find a way through in the second half. Substitute Joe Cole, who had replaced Stewart Downing on the left, struck twice within a matter of minutes. England then coasted through the rest of the half secure in their 2-0 lead. The victory was far from emphatic but had to be accepted as a case of job done.

It is hard to draw too many conclusions from a nervy qualifying opener; however, Joe Cole made demonstrable impact when introduced and offers more dimensions than Downing. Downing is yet to convince for England and Cole has reasserted himself as first choice for the left-side of midfield. Walcott impressed sporadically in the first-half but was quieter in the second. He may still be best utilized as an impact substitute for the time being, but with Beckham’s star on the wane, he could be a regular starter by 2010. Whilst Walcott showed some attacking brio, Rooney and Defoe produced little of note through the middle, but were heavily outnumbered by Andorran defenders.

Beckham was introduced late in the second half in a defensive central midfield position. He used the ball shrewdly over this limited period and this initiated some thoughts about how he may be used in the future. Could he be deployed to good effect in a deep position next to a ball-winning midfielder, under a 4-2-3-1 for example? But then he tamely allowed an Andorran player to drift past him, which put paid to my nascent notion of Beckham’s reinvention as England’s Andrea Pirlo. I was also slightly disappointed with Gareth Barry in this fixture. He had been something of a revelation upon breaking into the England side, the zenith being a man of the match performance in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago. He has looked less convincing in more recent fixtures and made little impact here, giving away some frustrating free-kicks with clumsy challenges.

7  Joe Cole
6  Theo Walcott
5  David James, Glen Johnson, John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham
4  Gareth Barry, Stewart Downing, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey