THE Tournoi de France may not be the World Cup, but there is never a bad time to beat Italy, and in the Beaujoire Stadium here last night an England team of cadets and old sweats defeated an Italian side approaching full strength with something to spare.
It was England's first victory over Italy for 20 years and the triumph produced a new English hero in Paul Scholes, the 22-year-old Manchester United mid-fielder, who set up the first goal for Ian Wright and scored the second, from Wright's pass.
Phil Neville's encouraging performance at right wing-back in the friendly with South Africa won him a chance against more meaningful opposition, which meant David Beckham at last moving into a more central role. With Scholes starting an England match for the first time, the strong, youthful thread from Manchester United was maintained.
This was important in a team which, because of its makeshift nature, needed to settle down quickly. The speed with which Southgate, operating in more of a sweeper's role last night and supported by the experience of Martin Keown and Stuart Pearce, established links with Ince was equally crucial.
One moment of defensive naivety had cost England the earlier game against Italy. After 12 minutes last night a superb pass from Gianfranco Zola, scorer of the only goal at Wembley, sent in his Chelsea team-mate Roberto Di Matteo to outwit Keown, only to be ferociously tackled by Pearce.
Zola, not surprisingly, was consistently checking the pulse of the game whereas England's football was more about blood pressure and heavy breathing. Hoddle's concentration on quick economical counter-attacks, which had paid off so well in Chorzow, was again evident although Wright's" tendency to wander offside sometimes spoilt the effect.
England took a while to create a clear scoring chance. After 19 minutes Sheringham, sidling into space on cue, met Beckham's low corner with a shot through a thicket of legs and Angelo Peruzzi did well to see it, let alone save it.
That turned out to be the precursor of an England goal, Ian Wright's second in successive appearances. It was set up by an inspired ball from Scholes, who turned in midfield before finding the weight and pace on his pass to exploit Wright's speed and keep him onside.
With Alessandro Costacurta, Italy's sweeper, apparently locked in his broom cupboard, Ferrara had no chance of dispossessing the Arsenal striker. Wright's shot was taken with typical panache. Italy, with a pained Di Matteo having already given way to Fuser, looked slightly stunned.
Two minutes before half-time England were positively crowing. Wright gathered a ball from Pearce and turned inside Cannavaro to deliver a low centre which Scholes, who had stolen through the middle, met with a first-time shot that Peruzzi barely saw.
