England wary of Kazakh comedown

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - England will do well to remember the last time they produced a spectacular away performance when they host Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifer on Saturday.

When England thrashed Germany 5-1 in Munich in September, 2001 with Michael Owen bagging a hat-trick the nation sat back and expected Sven-Goran Eriksson's side to cruise into the finals in South Korea and Japan.

Instead, fans were forced to bite their fingernails through the next two qualifiers as first Albania provided stubborn resistance in a 2-0 defeat and a few weeks later David Beckham's last-gasp leveller against Greece clinched a spot in the finals.

The 4-1 victory against Croatia in Zagreb last month, with Theo Walcott this time the hat-trick hero, cast off the cloak of gloom lingering over England since their failure to qualify for Euro 2008 in an instant.

Producing a consistent level of performance has proved beyond most England managers, however, and Fabio Capello will be looking for a convincing victory against the unknown quantity from Central Asia to prove the upward curve is sustained.

The Wembley crowd will demand goals, which will put the onus on the likes of Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch now that Owen is deemed surplus to requirements.

Emile Heskey, a veteran of that Munich victory, is likely to partner Rooney up front but of all the four genuine strikers in the squad only Crouch has an international scoring record to be truly proud of.

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