If goal scorers really are born and not made, then before the year is out England may well have cause to declare December 14th a national holiday. For it was on this day, 18 years ago, that Michael Owen joined the human race, most of whom would find it extremely hard to catch him.

Certainly Abdelkrim Hadrioui, the only Moroccan defender baring Owen's way in the Mahamed Stadium here on Wednesday, had no chance once the teenager had been sprung from his starting blocks by a perceptive pass from Liverpool team-mate Steve McManaman.

Showing that cornice of purpose which has become his hallmark, Owen clipped the ball pass the advancing Duiss Benzekri and entered football history as the youngest player to score for England. The fact that he did it to bring his country a 1-0 victory with the World Cup less than a fortnight away gave the moment added significance.

"No, I was not really nervous," Owen explained later. "You long for these chances all the game. When they come, you are not going to feel nervous".

"Michael Owen can give us a different dimension whether he starts a game or comes from the bench," said Glenn Hoddle. "You've got to be excited about a player like that who can come on at this level, give a very good performance in intimidating circumstances, and still keep his cool.

"Michael has two great assets, his movement combined with his understanding of the game. A lot of players have good pace but they don't understand when to use it."

The speed of Owen, like that of Arsenal's Nicolas Anelka, unnerves defenders and if it does not always lead to goals, will regularly produce penalties.

England might have had one at the start of the second half when Owen appeared to be held back by Youssef Rossi after Graeme Le Saux had sent him clear.

"I was running through with the ball," said Owen, "and trying to get across him for a shot on goal. He was grabbing my shirt. I was not sure whether the referee could see it and I would have been a fool to stay on my feet. You don't dive but if there is a penalty there for the taking, and the defender is committing an offence, then it's sensible to go down."

Earlier in the match Owen had briefly lost all sense of time and place after being knocked out in a collision with the Moroccan goalkeeper. That was a bad two minutes for England. Owen was only on because Ian Wright had suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury which has now ruled him out of the World Cup.

The attacking vacancy will lie between Les Ferdinand and Dion Dublin. Ferdinand looked sharp on Wednesday after replacing Dublin with just under a quarter of an hour remaining. The Tottenham striker could just make the squad although Hoddle likes Dublin's ability to double up as a central defender.

McManaman, another player on the fringe of the squad, did his cause no harm against Morocco. After an indifferent first half spent tucked into a cramped space alongside Paul Ince, he moved wider for the second and as well as setting up Owen's goal was involved in most of England's better movements.

Is Hoddle drifting towards the idea of a 4-4-2 formation, having qualified for the World Cup mainly by employing three at the back with five in midfield? Certainly England looked better balanced against Moroco once Martin Keown had been switched to right-back with Le Saux pushing forward from defence on the left.

The principal reason why England did not see much of the ball before half-time answered somewhat breathlessly to the name of Paul Gascoigne, who spent his 31st birthday being dispossessed by Moroccans when he was not passing to them.

"We all know Paul can pass the ball better," said Hoddle with masterly understatement. "But he has got 90 minutes under his belt and towards the end of the game he had chances to score as well as being involved at the other end."

Clearly Gascoigne, like the below-par Teddy Sheringham, is going to take some shifting but the longer England stay in the World Cup, the more likely are Owen and Paul Scholes to feature strongly in Hoddle's team.

For tonight's final warm-up here against Belgium, Hoddle may want to give the spine of his side a freshener, which would see David Seaman, Tony Adams and Alan Shearer recalled with Ince staying in midfield. The choice of Shearer's partner given the departure of Wright, could be revealing.