Carlos is jealous of Sven's men

This bold pronouncement from the Brazilian legend followed the 2-0 win over Azerbaijan that kept England one point in front of Poland in Group Six.

Leaving aside his amazing outburst about "midget" Michael Owen, Alberto's admiration for Sven-Goran Eriksson's emerging team is based not just on last night's performance at St James' Park but on the hours spent watching satellite transmissions of English football in Baku.

"England have the qualities to win the World Cup," said Alberto, who captained the fabulous Brazilians of 1970 to the title in Mexico and now coaches Azerbaijan's national side.

"England have a wonderful team and I'm jealous of Mr Eriksson. His team have shown great improvement since the last World Cup. If they continue to improve, they will have a good chance of winning in Germany.

"They have the best midfield in the world. They play the kind of football I like to see. This was a good lesson for my team."

This is praise indeed, coming from a man who played in a team still widely regarded as the best ever seen. "He should know," smiled Eriksson.

"It's very flattering. I agree that our midfield is extremely strong - attacking, defending, retaining possession and scoring goals. All four of our midfield players scored goals against Ireland and Azerbaijan. Not bad!"

Although England failed to live up to the pre-match hype that predicted a goal feast following Poland's 8-0 trouncing of Azerbaijan, consecutive wins over Easter, with six goals scored and none conceded, have demolished the prophets of doom who are constantly waiting for Eriksson's men to slip.

They were not at their best yesterday but created enough chances to have scored five or six goals. In the end, the remarkable Wayne Rooney provided the one moment of inspiration-that unhinged Azerbaijan's packed defence and set England on the way to a deserved victory.

Rooney is one of those players that no defence can legislate for completely, and there is a danger that England will grow to become dependent on those magical moments when he suddenly pulls a rabbit out of a hat and wins a match almost singlehanded.

What became apparent on a cold, wet, frustrating night in the North-East is that he is becoming a more dominant attacking figure than Michael Owen, who so desperately requires the right service to score goals. He had four good chances last night and missed them all and found little opportunity to use his pace against a deep defence stationed for most of the match on the 18-yard line.

"He was saving himself for more important games," joked Eriksson. "He was unlucky but the goalkeeper was very good and, had you seen his performance against Poland, you wouldn't have thought it was the same man."

Rooney's value to the team was plain for all to see when Eriksson substituted him shortly after Owen was booked for handling the ball in a desperate attempt to control a cross.

Owen will be suspended for England's next qualifier - in Wales in September.

"Wayne already has a yellow card and I couldn't risk him also receiving a suspension and missing the next game," said Eriksson. "That's why I took him off."

Rooney was England's best player. "He will get better and better," said Eriksson. "All the teams that win the big trophies have a star who can do something extra."

And, like Alberto with Brazil, many also have an outstanding captain. David Beckham reminded us of his leadership qualities yesterday-with a performance of composure, discipline and energy.

Any doubts about his continuing importance to England's cause were brushed aside by Eriksson. "He has been one of the best players in the world for many years and will be extremely important to us in the future," he said.

Beckham, booked for unsporting behaviour after losing a boot, helped set up England's opening goal in the 51st minute. Steven Gerrard, having won possession, gave the ball to Beckham and his long, raking pass found Rooney on the left. He outpaced two defenders and, although his cross was headed away, Gerrard had swept into a scoring position and hit the back of the net with a carefully-struck volley.

Eleven minutes later, Beckham chased a long forward ball from Frank Lampard, controlled the pass on his chest before shooting beyond the dive of Dmitri Kramarenko.

It wasn't a classic performance by England, but it was good enough. They may have scored just two where Poland scored eight, but the Poles scored just one against the Irish last night.

England, remember, scored four against them.