England 5, Kazakhstan 1...Wayne Rooney is No. 1. Okay, it certainly doesn't have the ring of the famed 'England 5, Germany 1' song, but whatever. Who's splitting hairs?Speaking of hairs, how about Rooney shaving off his ginger stubble? He went from 22 superstar to 42 year old geezer overnight. Well, not exactly, but the bald pate isn't exactly a good look for the English bulldog. Rooney might be burly, but he's no Vic Mackey.
Still, Rooney proved he's no Sampson, scoring twice as England overwhelmed the Kazakh's with a five-goal flurry in the second half -- mainly from set pieces at Wembley Stadium in London.
Though the scoreline looks nice, the Three Lions didn't look great. It reminded me of some recent performances by the U.S. -- doing enough to get results against inferior opposition. During the run of play England didn't do a ton to unlock the Kazakhstan defense and never seemed to get out of second gear until a furious final 15 minutes.
The game even produced some nervy moments when everyone's favorite -- Ashley Cole -- made an absolutely boneheaded move that allow Kazakhstan to pull within 2-1. The best England goal was probably, believe it or not, Emile Heskey making a nice flick for Jermain Defoe around the halfway line.
Guess the result is all that will matter once the lager starts flowing.
