David James
                                                   
 
  Gary Neville                         John Terry               Sol Campbell              Ashley Cole


  David Beckham (capt)           Steven Gerrard             Frank Lampard        Paul Scholes
                                                                                                                   (Owen Hargreaves 70)

                                              Wayne Rooney                 Michael Owen
                                              (Kieron Dyer 83)             (Darius Vassell 72)
 

The team from Switzerland was Stiel, Haas, Murat Yakin, Muller, Spycher, Huggel, Celestini (Cabanas 52), Wicky, Chapuisat (Gygax 46), Hakan Yakin (Vonlanthen 84), Frei

 

John Terry replaced Ledley King in central defence having recovered from a hamstring injury. There was some debate before the game as to whether England would play the diamond formation in midfield (4-1-2-1-2) but England played the game with a standard 4-4-2 formation.

England kept their Euro 2004 hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over Switzerland following the 2-1 loss to France four days earlier but this was not a one sided game.

England were disappointing early on and gave away too many free kicks. After 18 minutes Wayne Rooney was booked for a foul on the Swiss keeper Stiel.
 

                                           
     Rooney (left of picture) headed the ball in at the top corner                          Wayne Rooney
 

Five minutes later, however, Rooney had given England the lead and become the youngest player to score in the European Championship finals (at 18 years 237 days). David Beckham crossed from the right wing and found Michael Owen beyond the far post - Owen then gave a chipped pass to Rooney who headed the ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.

England were now improving but did not have any more clear cut chances before the break. Hakin Yakin almost equalised on 44 minutes with a free kick from just outside the penalty box but his shot went just wide.

Switzerland continued to threaten the England goal when the game resumed - then after 60 minutes the Swiss defender Haas was sent off after getting his second yellow card for a foul on Ashley Cole.

Owen, Rooney and Sol Campbell had good chances to score in the second half before Rooney got his second in the 76th minute. He got the ball from substitute Darius Vassell and struck a low shot from the edge of the penalty area in off the post and the goalkeeper Stiel's head.

After  82 minutes England were 3-0 up. Steven Gerrard received a pass from Gary Neville inside the penalty area and blasted the ball past Steil.

Owen Hargreaves and Vassell then had the chances to get late goals for England but the final score stayed at 3-0.

Who played well:  Wayne Rooney got a yellow card early on but then scored two goals to give England the victory. Steven Gerrard had a great game and also got on the score sheet. Sol Campbell defended well to help keep the Swiss from scoring.

Who could have played better: Michael Owen had several chances to score but has been short of confidence recently. John Terry gave away a few free kicks on his return and has had better games for England.