Paris, Sept 07: England, France and Italy all took huge strides towards the Euro 2004 finals but fellow European football superpower Germany put in such a dismal performance that coach Rudi Voller hinted he was close to quitting.
England defeated Macedonia 2-1, defending champions France crushed Cyprus 5-0 while Italy brought the Welsh bandwagon crashing to a halt with a 4-0 win yesterday.

However, Voller, who took Germany to the World Cup final last year, was as gloomy as the Reykjavik weather after his side struggled to a 0-0 draw with Iceland.
In Skopje, Wayne Rooney became the youngest player to score for England as Sven-Goran Eriksson's side came from behind to earn a 2-1 win over Macedonia that moves them to the brink of automatic qualification.

The 17-year-old Everton striker's 53rd-minute goal and a penalty from captain David Beckham cancelled out Georgi Hristov's first half opener for the home side and left England as clear favourites to win group seven.



"The talent is there, the quality is there. Of course he has a lot to learn but if things go to plan, he can go very, very far," said Eriksson of Rooney.



Group rivals Turkey beat Liechenstein 3-0 to keep the pressure on England.


Bureau Report