England beat Croatia

England outplayed Croatia 5-1 earlier this afternoon at Wembley to qualify for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.



Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard scored two goals each as Fabio Capello\'s team maintained a perfect record in qualifying.



Although England needed only a point to guarantee a place in the World Cup, they raced into a 2-0 lead by the 18th minute with Lampard\'s eighth-minute penalty and Gerrard\'s close-range header.



Lampard added a third in the 59th and Gerrard\'s second header put England out of reach.



Eduardo da Silva replied with a consolation goal for Croatia, but Wayne Rooney added a fifth after goalkeeper Vedran Runje passed straight to him.



Over in Turin, Fabio Grosso and Vincenzo Iaquinta scored in the first half to give hosts Italy a 2-0 win over Bulgaria, putting the world champions closer to a spot in next year\'s tournament.



In other World Cup qualifying games Germany routed 10-man Azerbaijan 4-0, Norway edged Macedonia 2-1, Russia beat Wales 3-1, Albania and Denmark drew one-all, Cuyprus held Montenegro to a one-all draw, The Netherlands beat Scotland 1-0 and Ecuador got by Bolivia 3-1.