England started their qualification campaign for Euro 2008 by cruising to a 5-0 victory over Andorra in a one-sided match at Old Trafford.
For his first competitive game in charge of the national team, coach Steve McClaren made two changes to the side that beat Greece 4-0 in a friendly last month, with Wes Brown replacing the injured Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the defence and Phil Neville coming in for brother Gary at right-back.Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe were retained in attack and it was the Liverpool striker who found the goal trail first as he broke the deadlock with just five minutes on the clock.
Defoe played his part by turning well on the edge of the area and, after taking a deflection off Ashley Cole, the ball fell to Crouch who swept home from eight yards with a first-time left-footed effort.
With the home side totally in control Steven Gerrard was the next to cap a spell of intense pressure with an impressive strike on 12 minutes.
Cole's cross from the left should have been cleared but, when the left-back misjudged the flight of the ball, it fell to Gerrard who controlled on his chest before lashing a half-volley into the top corner.
On the half-hour mark Owen Hargreaves was inches away from his first international goal as a looping 25-yard free-kick from the Bayern Munich midfielder clattered the upright and bounced away to safety.
But it was only temporary respite for the Andorra defence who were always on the back foot as Gerrard turned from goalscorer to provider as he beat his man down the right wing and crossed for Defoe to convert simply for England's third of the afternoon on 38 minutes.
After the break England continued to dominate an embarrassingly one-sided Group E encounter and Defoe duly doubled his tally in the 47th minute.
Neville headed a hopeful ball back into the Andorra box and Defoe had the simple task of controlling before beating the keeper and rolling his shot into the empty net.
The Tottenham striker was then denied his first international hat-trick on the hour-mark as goalkeeper Jesus Alvarez pulled off an impressive one-handed save to turn away a powerful back post drive.
Hargreaves then hit the woodwork again with a speculative effort from 30 yards before McClaren rang the changes with Kieran Richardson and Aaron Lennon replacing Stewart Downing and Neville.
Lennon's first contribution was to speed past his marker and set up Crouch for the fifth goal of the afternoon on 66 minutes.
Crouch converted a simple headed opportunity from six yards after rising above two defenders to record his 10th international goal in his last nine appearances.
England refused to take their foot off the pedal and the only black mark against Crouch's name was his failure to convert a hat-trick chance 10 minutes from time.
Substitute Andy Johnson cut the ball back perfectly but the Liverpool hitman pulled his side-footed shot from 10 yards wide of the mark.