World Group Six/England - 2 Wales - 0: England were too good for their own good. Their display will be undervalued because of the monotony in a game that was supposed to be full of spiky fascination. Sven-Goran Eriksson's team gave Wales a beating and everyone else a history lesson.
Spectators know now why the Home International series died. It should not be resurrected either if it merely churns out mismatches of this nature.
There could only have been fun of the ugliest sort at Old Trafford that would have entailed a distasteful rout on Saturday. If this had been a day when the ball ran for them, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen would each have had a hat-trick, but Wales, who lost centre-half Andy Melville to a calf injury in the warm-up, did not deserve such shame.
Mark Hughes's players slogged away, but John Hartson turned out to be the emblem of their disadvantages. A man who has undergone two back operations since the summer of 2003 had to engage with Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell while the rest of the team concentrated merely on getting in England's way.
With so exacting a fixture before them, it was a vindictive misfortune that Hughes should lose Melville, hurriedly draft Jason Koumas into the line-up, and then see Frank Lampard score in the fourth minute. Even so, any Wales strategy would have had its limitations exposed sooner or later.
Mark Pembridge had always been intended to block Wayne Rooney's path, but the teenager may never have learned of that plot. He darted round and past the Fulham player with such ease in the 11th minute that he must have had his mind on other matters as he bore down on the Wales penalty area and clipped the outside of a post with a drive.
Pembridge should not cringe at the memory; Rooney treats most footballers in such a fashion.
Manchester United's new signing can set the planet on its heels, but others in the England line-up are also becoming exuberant. It is no longer obvious who the figureheads actually are.
The clincher was David Beckham's first goal for his country in open play during a competitive match since an equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Macedonia at St Mary's in October 2002. The most telling aspect of that statistic is that England have not starved while he has served up those meagre rations.
His 76th-minute goal against Wales, sent dipping and bending into the top corner from 20 yards out on the left, was exquisite, and he can still be a redoubtable talent, but it does not matter that the captain will miss Wednesday's match with Azerbaijan thanks to both injury and a suspension incurred by a doltish booking. No revolution has occurred, but a power-sharing process is taking place.
It could be witnessed in the partnership of Lampard and Ashley Cole. Neither is a newcomer, but the influence is fresh and the Chelsea midfielder only established himself fully at Euro 2004. In a combination reminiscent of the one used at Stamford Bridge, he was tucked in on the left, with plenty of scope to manoeuvre and deftly find Cole, as he does Damien Duff at club level.
The adventurous Arsenal full-back often cast Craig Bellamy as a defender. His own covering has also improved and few players are, as Eriksson appreciates, so well-rounded.
"Cole was absolutely world class," said the manager. "Normally when you see a player with pace he doesn't have stamina, but he has got both. He goes up and down like a train. And he can go inside as well as outside when he overlaps. He hits good crosses."
Eriksson has a similar regard for the other left-back, Wayne Bridge, but he is still recovering from a calf strain and cannot be added to the squad for the trip to Baku. The alterations may well be minimal. Owen Hargreaves came on for Beckham on Saturday and is likely to be preferred to Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The manager views the latter as a winger and cannot afford one when an array of forwards are already in action.
"If we want to play Shaun Wright-Phillips I don't think we should play three strikers," Eriksson said. "He's not used to playing narrow like Lampard or Beckham. Everything depends on how we want to play, whether we keep the shape we had against Wales or go back to 4-4-2."
England will expect to overcome Azerbaijan, so reaching the 10-point mark and keeping themselves at the top of the group with four of the six subsequent qualifiers at home. It is only mid-October, but a place at the 2006 World Cup finals already feels very close.
In the past, Eriksson might have been disturbed by Owen's shortage of goals and his problems at Real Madrid. As with Beckham, though, individual difficulties are closer to being a private matter than a subject of national woe nowadays. Even if Jermain Defoe was comparatively quiet, England have several possible scorers.
Owen did covet the opener against Wales. He contested a pass from the excellent Nicky Butt with Mark Delaney, and Lampard only drove home the loose ball with an unwitting deflection off Owen's heel. Following discussions between the referee, Terje Hauge, and the FIFA delegate, however, the goal has been credited, as Eriksson thought appropriate, to the Chelsea midfielder.
Even so, Owen did show vitality in one confident run that would have cracked the defence but for a desperate challenge by Danny Gabbidon. Wales often had to resort to frantic recovery.
Eriksson is opposed to playing them or Scotland on a regular basis. There are no prizes in friendlies and he fears pointless injuries in fixtures of traditional passion. Even if a game in Cardiff would be different, though, Wales barely left a mark on England at Old Trafford.
ENGLAND: Robinson; G Neville, Campbell, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole; Beckham (capt), Butt, Lampard; Rooney; Defoe, Owen. Subs: Smith for Defoe (70 mins), Hargreaves for Beckham (85 mins), KIng for Rooney (87 mins).
WALES: P Jones; Delaney, Gabbidon, Thatcher; Koumas, Bellamy, Davies, Pembridge, Speed (capt), Giggs; Hartson. Subs: Robinson for Pembridge (60 mins), Earnshaw for Koumas (74 mins).
Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway).
