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VIEW MATCH REPORT

Thursday 17 Aug 2006
England 4 Greece 0
McClaren's reign starts well as England finally learn to control the game from the midfield.

England ushered in a new era under Steve McClaren with a 4-0 thrashing of Greece on Wednesday.

McClaren, who replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson as coach after the World Cup, watched his side romp to a 4-0 lead before the break with new skipper John Terry, Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch, twice, all on target.

With former captain David Beckham left out of the squad, Owen Hargreaves wore his old number seven shirt and combined well in midfield with Steven Gerrard and Lampard.

"I thought Owen Hargreaves was phenomenal," McClaren said.

"He set the standard for the others to follow, not just his attitude but his whole game. You saw the likes of Gerrard and Lampard follow that and produce performances which we're all delighted about," he told the post-match news conference.

Terry opened the scoring after 13 minutes, glancing a header past Greek goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis after Stuart Downing had nodded a poor clearance back into the box.

Lampard, who endured a poor World Cup, made it 2-0 after 29 minutes with a deflected left foot effort.

Crouch then pounced for the third after Nikopolidis had done well to keep out a close-range Lampard effort.

The Liverpool striker has a remarkable record at international level and he made it eight goals in 12 games when he headed a Downing cross into the ground, and into the net, four minutes before halftime.

Ashley Cole twice cleared off the line in the second half as Greece produced a much-improved performance, with Georgios Karagounis also forcing substitute goalkeeper Chris Kirkland into a fine save.

The performance was a welcome fillip for England after a disappointing performance in the World Cup, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Portugal.

"In possession we looked like a team. We looked like a team that was cohesive and worked together - it bodes well," McClaren said.

"For three days we have stressed that possession is key, it doesn't win you football matches but it controls you the game, and it did that today. We got great movement and great passing and we dominated the midfield area.

Praising his captain Terry, McClaren added: "John gave a performance that was an inspiration for the rest of the players. That's what a captain does.