Serravalle (San Marino), Sep 6 (IANS) England have become the first team to qualify for the 2016 Euro following a 6-0 win against San Marino here, their seventh victory in seven Group E games.
Captain Wayne Rooney opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute after San Marino defender Marco Berardi was penalised for an infringement in the box on Saturday. Rooney’s low finish was his 49th goal for England, drawing him level with legend Bobby Charlton as England’s all-time leading international goalscorer, reports uefa.com.
It was 2-0 after 30 minutes, San Marino defender Cristian Brolli heading into his own net following Luke Shaw’s cross from the left. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain nearly made it 3-0 before half-time, but San Marino keeper Aldo Simoncini pulled off an impressive save from point-blank range.
Ross Barkley registered his first national-team goal for England moments after the start of the second half when he nodded in a cross from Oxlade-Chamberlain. Then, a minute after coming on for Arsenal team-mate Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott notched the fourth, converting Fabian Delph’s low centre.
Second-half substitute Harry Kane added a fifth for Roy Hodgson’s visitors in the 77th minute, calmly chipping Simoncini after being fed by Jonjo Shelvey, and Walcott scored his second of the match 90 seconds later, placing a shot into the far corner.