Match Summary

England Team

Iceland Team

Wayne Rooney helped give England the perfect Euro 2004 send-off with two fantastic goals at the City of Manchester Stadium.  The Everton teenager sounded a warning to the rest of the tournament with a couple of instinctive strikes before half-time to follow up Frank Lampard's opener.  With the opening European Championship game France looming in Lisbon next Sunday, Sven was able to rest nine of his starters at half-time and give vital time to the rest of his squad who may be needed in Portugal.  With Sven starting with a flat midfield four rather than a diamond, England showed they will be able to use more than one tactical formation in Portugal if needed.

And there were useful run-outs too for Jamie Carragher and Paul Robinson, deputising for John Terry and David James, as England comfortably collected their first win in six games.  The rhythm was hardly affected by wholesale changes at half-time, with England scoring another three after half-time - two of them from Darius Vassell.  With Steve Gerrard restored to central midfield, it didn't take long for Paul Scholes to show how dangerous he can still be cutting in from the left.

Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville swung in a brilliant cross towards the far post after five minutes and Scholes ghosted in unchecked by the Iceland defence, volleying just past the post.  Wayne Rooney was involved in plenty even before his goals.  First, he was foiled by a Joey Guðjonsson interception as he got set to pounce from Ashley Cole's knock-down.  The Everton teenager then had another shot charged down and a header deflected wide.

But the best chance of the early period fell to Frank Lampard who rose unmarked to meet David Beckham's header after 19 minutes and headed into the ground, looking on in disbelief as his effort went wide.  Lampard didn't take long to make amends and opened the scoring after 25 minutes. Bursting forward from midfield, he collected a neat pass from Paul Scholes and let fly from 20 yards, the ball deflecting off the left leg of Charlton defender Herman Hrei�arsson.

It was Lampard's second England goal adding to the 15 he scored for Chelsea last season.  The opening goal settled England down and from then on Rooney took over.  He scored England's second just two minutes after Lampard's strike and it was a classy finish.  Neville overlapped to receive a throw-in and cutely pulled the ball back for Rooney, whose trusty right peg beat goalkeeper Arni Arason from eight yards.  Poor Arason was a Manchester City player last season but he didn't certainly didn't feel at home as England celebrated their 2-0 lead.

Incredibly, it could have been 3-0 before the half-hour mark but Michael Owen's goal was ruled out for offside, a marginal decision as the Liverpool striker timed his run well.   Beckham then curled a 25-yard shot narrowly beyond the far post as England turned on some exhibition stuff for the full house at the City of Manchester Stadium.

If Rooney's first goal was well-finished, his second was glorious. A spot of penalty-area pinball saw the ball fall to the 18-year-old outside the penalty-area D and he didn't need a second invitation to lash a right-footed shot into Arason's top left-hand corner.  England may have still been thinking of Rooney's effort when Iceland pulled a goal back with three minutes of the first half remaining.  Ivar Ingimarsson wasn't picked up in the penalty and when the ball squirted through to Helguson, the Watford player couldn't miss with a header from three yards for only his third international goal.  Unusually, Helguson wore the number six shirt although he was always Iceland's furthest player forward.

In contrast, no.9 Ei�ur Gu�johnsen played a deep-lying role and wasn't seen in the opposition penalty area until he volleyed over just before half-time.  The half-time crowd were treated to David Beckham taking penalties before leaving for hospital to have a cyst removed in his back.

In fact England only kept two of their starting line-up on the field for the second half, Jamie Carragher and goalkeeper Paul Robinson. 
Elsewhere it was all change with Nicky Butt wearing the captain's armband and Emile Heskey and Darius Vassell replacing Owen and Rooney up front. Robinson himself made way for Ian Walker in the 62nd minute.  Iceland threw Chelsea's Gu�johnsen further forward in the second half and their more more positive intent was signalled by a long-range shot from Joey Guðjonsson with the outside of his boot.

But they were thoroughly outplayed by England's new-look team.  Ledley King, who scored on his full England debut, almost got another when his header was cleared off the line.  And Sven's men did score a fourth after 57 minutes although there may be a little debate about the scorer.  Owen Hargreaves launched a fierce low shot that cannoned into Vassell and his marker before spinning cruelly past Arnason.

The tannoy announcer promptly announced Vassell as the scorer although the Aston Villa striker will probably admit he didn't know too much about it.  By the hour mark, England were looked as if they could score every time they broke forward. Joe Cole should have added a fifth with the goal at his mercy but placed the ball wide from six yards. 

The fifth eventually came from his Chelsea colleague Wayne Bridge. The left-back ran forward to collect a knockdown from Heskey and hammered a decisive finish past Arnason.  If there was any doubt about Vassell scoring England's fourth, the sixth goal was emphatically his.  The Aston Villa striker played a great one-two with Heskey and rifled in a left-foot shot from 20 yards. It was his sixth goal for England, only Michael Owen, David Beckham and Paul Scholes from the current squad have scored more.

The margin of victory means England finished above Japan to be 'winners' of the FA Summer Tournament.  A bigger prize is up for grabs around the corner. - TheFA.com

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
SkySports.com/football
ESPN
Icelandic Football Association
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CG