ENGLAND REACH WORLD CUP FINALS

England booked their ticket to the World Cup finals with a dominant performance at Wembley as Croatia were hammered 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Two years after Croatia triumphed in the Wembley rain to sweep England out of Euro 2008 and Steve McClaren out of a job, Fabio Capello showed how it should be done.

Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard scored two goals each to exact their own personal revenge for that horrible night, with Wayne Rooney adding another near the end.

Capello was the master technician though as England completed an eighth straight qualifying win to secure a trip to South Africa next summer with two games to spare.

Capello preferred Aaron Lennon to Shaun Wright-Phillips and was rewarded with a blistering man-of-the-match performance from the fleet-footed Tottenham star, who created two goals, plus a chance for Emile Heskey and one he wasted himself. And that was before half-time.

He was certainly too fast for Josip Simunic as he sped into the box on a fateful seventh minute charge. Simunic might have been complaining. Goodness only knows why. A clearer penalty you could not wish to see.

Lampard kept his nerve and drove home from the spot.

Eleven minutes later, Lennon was at it again. Hugging the right touchline, then delivering a perfect far-post cross for Gerrard, who headed it straight back where it had come from, right into the far corner.

As things tend to happen in threes and Belarus had already done the Three Lions a favour by holding Ukraine to a draw in Minsk, meaning only a point was required to qualify, the action might have been over. Few would have complained.

Under Capello, England know exactly where they are going.

Before Defoe could replace Heskey, they had scored again, Johnson providing the cross for Lampard to steer into the corner.

Not that they were in the mood to ease off. For Lampard, Gerrard and Barry in particular, as survivors from the last day of McClaren's reign, the pain will never quite go away.

So it must have been very gratifying for Gerrard to see his header loop home midway through the second half.

Eduardo tucked home a consolation for Croatia, who must now overhaul Ukraine in the battle to be runners-up. England will play a part in the outcome as they visit the Ukraine next month.