THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Wayne Rooney scored his sixth goal in World Cup qualifying on Saturday for England to beat Kazakhstan 4-0 and move closer to a spot at next year’s tournament in South Africa.
The Manchester United forward found the net in the 73rd minute as England made it six wins out of six in Group 6.
Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey scored at the end of a nervy first half for the visitors, while Frank Lampard added the fourth from the penalty spot after Rooney’s goal.
Despite the flattering result, manager Fabio Capello can now prepare for Wednesday’s home match against Andorra knowing his players will almost certainly make the World Cup after they missed out on the 2008 European Championship.
"It took us about 20 minutes or half an hour to get going, but then we won comfortably," Lampard said. "It was professional, there were things we could have done better.
"We are on a confident run and we need to keep it going. We’ve taken a big step again. Our main objective is to qualify, the sooner we do that the better."
The emphatic score didn’t reflect England’s languid performance, which lacked the intensity expected from some of the Premier League’s top players.
Immediately from the kickoff, England defender Glen Johnson gave the ball away, allowing Zhambyl Kukeyev to charge down the left flank. It took Matthew Upson to prevent Sergey Ostapenko from turning Kukeyev’s cross past goalkeeper Robert Green.
There was an even greater reprieve in the 18th minute when Kukeyev swung in a free kick from the right and Ostapenkom headed the ball into the net, only to be ruled offside.
England’s players struggled to string together passes on a field that visiting officials ordered to be cut just before the match.
"They started very strong and they were pressing a lot. For us it was not easy to play the ball," Capello said. "We tried to play and move the ball quickly, but on this pitch it was not easy to find our passes. They were always too long."
Capello blamed the noise inside Almaty’s Central Stadium for making it "impossible" to convey tactical changes to his players.
Only in the latter stages of the first half did England look a class above opponents who had collected only three points from its first five qualifiers.
Kazakhstan goalkeeper Alexandr Mokin blocked Heskey’s shot and a header from captain John Terry before England finally found the net in the 40th minute.
Barry, who completed a lucrative move to Manchester City earlier in the week, met Steven Gerrard’s cross with a downward header at the far post.
Gerrard was the provider again in first-half stoppage time when Heskey doubled the lead.
Gerrard’s deflected ball was parried by Mokin and Heskey tapped in his first competitive England goal since the 2002 World Cup.
The sluggish first half caused Capello to bring on Shaun Wright-Phillips in place of right winger Theo Walcott, who was ineffective on his first England start since dislocating his shoulder in the Wembley meeting with Kazakhstan last October.
"I tried to change some positions and the style of play," Capello said.
England, though, took until the 73rd minute to produce a third goal.
Johnson used his strength to cut in from the right to find Rooney, whose initial shot was saved by Mokin but he met the rebound with a scissors kick that ended in the roof of the net.
After Heskey was brought down by Renat Abdulin, Lampard dispatched his penalty high into the goal in the 78th.
"Normally, when you lose 4-0 against England, you are a little bit disappointed. But now I am satisfied with the game, with my team," Kazakhstan coach Bernd Storck said. "We have a good team for the future. We played a good team and we played well."
David Beckham extended the appearance record for an England outfield player to 111 appearances after replacing Johnson in the 75th. The 34-year-old midfielder could break at the World Cup retired goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s record of 125 games for England.
——= Lineups:
Kazkahstan: Alexander Mokin, Alexander Kirov, Renat Abdulin, Alexander Kislitsyn, Andrei Karpovich, Tanat Nusserbayev, Sergei Skorykh, Sergei Ostapenko (Sabyrkhan Ibrayev, 27), Zhambyl Kukeyev, Yevegeny Averchenko, Yury Logvinenko.
England: Robert Green, Glen Johnson (David Beckham, 75), John Terry, Matthew Upson, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 46), Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey (Jermain Defoe, 81).
——= AP Sports Writer Rob Harris in London contributed to this report.