UP AND RUNNING ... Theo Walcott slots home the first of his hat-trick

ENGLAND turned on the style with a 4-1 win over Croatia in Zagreb.

See how the players rated, with marks out of 10.

DAVID JAMES

HAD a hairy time dealing with his first corner but recovered well. Looked
confident taking ball at his feet, unlike Paul Robinson the last time
England visited Croatia. The Portsmouth mans positioning was good for
set-pieces and he organised the men in front of him well at corners. 6

WES BROWN

VERY solid at the back and moved forward sensibly without exposing the defence
to any danger. Supported Walcott with an out ball when he needed one and did
not waste too much in the way of possession. Manchester United defender will
have done his future chances no harm at all. 7

RIO FERDINAND

NO sign of his dodgy back as he breezed through much of the game and even had
a stroll up front. The Manchester United star always looks comfortable
beside his Premier League rival John Terry and the pair were Englands best
defenders on the night. 7

JOHN TERRY

DID exceptionally well in the air against Olic, who was barging into him at
every opportunity. Held the line well and dished out the orders when the
team needed to be pulled back as they defended their surprise lead. Might
have done a little better in build-up to the Croatia goal. 7

ASHLEY COLE

OLIC and Corluka danced past him too easily in early exchanges. But he stood
up to the pressure and upped his game. Much better tackling in the second
half as well as on the overlap. Won much more of the ball on the left as
well as helping to make the third goal. 7

THEO WALCOTT

LOOKED a bit nervous to start with, then just stepped up a gear and scared the
hell out of the Croatians. Provided some good crosses and a lot of energy as
well as taking the opening goal with great skill. Smashed the second even
better, then got a third. STAR MAN. 9

GARETH BARRY

VERY quiet match. Covered the space and forward runs of Niko Kovac but did not
follow up as much as he might have. Effective in enforcing the area in front
of the back four, which will give Capello food for thought on who should
play with Lamps. 6

FRANK LAMPARD

SUPPLIED some good early free-kicks and a fine one after half-time which the
keeper spilled and Rio Ferdinand nearly pounced on. Ran the midfield, opened
up space for team-mates, helped set up Walcott for the second and unlucky to
have a brilliant goal of his own ruled out. 7

JOE COLE

ANOTHER forced too far back to be effective but did a brilliant job tracking
Croatian players when they were forcing pressure. Never got the chance to
repeat his weekend scoring feats. Cruel blow by Robert Kovac ended his
night. 7

EMILE HESKEY

FIRST contribution was to go through Stipe Pletikosa in the Croatia goal.
Struggled to get involved through most of the first half. Improved as
England settled into the game and linked play well after Croatia went down
to 10 and changed to three at the back. Booked. 6

WAYNE ROONEY

FORCED to play as a defender for much of the first half and worked hard
in areas where he should not have needed to be. Came to life after the
break. Had hand in the second goal and stroked in the third. Then laid
on Walcotts hat-trick goal as well to delight of Capello and the fans.
7

SUBSTITUTES

JENAS (J Cole 55) 5, BECKHAM (Walcott 84) 5, UPSON (Terry
88) 5. Not used: Robinson, Johnson, Downing, Defoe.

CROATIA: Pletikosa 5, Corluka 6, R Kovac 4, Simunic 6, Pranjic 5, Srna
5, N Kovac 5, Modric 6, Rakitic 5, Petric 5, Olic 5. Subs: Knezevic (Petric
57) 4. Pokrivac (N Kovac 63) 5, Mandzukic (Olic 74) 3. Not used:
Runje, Krizanac, Klasnic, Leko.

REF: Lubos Michel (Slovakia) 6.