Time to Brag About a New England

Bleak experiences have taught us to scoff at the notion of Premier League stars punishing footballers' hubris, but tonight England showed it is still possible. Their Croatian counterparts had devoted the build-up to taunting England and predicting another comprehensive triumph – apparently they, like most of us in fairness, had seen next to nothing in Fabio Capello's reign so far to suggest that the England that turned up in Zagreb tonight would amount to anything more daunting than the callow, confused and clumsy rabble previously led by Steve McClaren. Instead, a solid and bold team deservedly inflicted a first competitive home defeat on the crowing Croats.

England never quite reached the swashbuckling excellence that Bobby Robson's team showed not so far from Zagreb in 1987, when they traveled to Yugoslavia needing a draw to qualify for Euro 88 and exploded into a 4-0 lead after 25 minutes, but they did show similar intent from the outset and this was certainly no re-enactment of the counter-attacking smash-and-grab of Munich 2001. That they started with such ambition was all the more commendable given the meekness of their last visit here, when McClaren's infamous tampering with the formation betrayed a fear of the opposition that gifted them the initiative.

Tonight England started with a determination to force Croatia on to the back foot. The confidence that this approach reflected was also apparent at the back, where in only the second minute John Terry intercepted a low cross from Vedran Corluka and, rather than smash the ball clear, nonchalantly tapped it to Frank Lampard just five yards away: England niftily stroking the ball through opponents in their own box? Yes, it really happened.

And it continued to happen, even when early miscues by Ashley Cole, David James and Theo Walcott proved that the transformation into suave slicksters is not yet complete. But Capello has certainly sown the seeds, and the players tended to them deliberately, clearly convinced they will bear fruit.

The second, third and fourth goals were created with brash but patient ingenuity. Even the first goal was revelatory of England's reformed mentality: though its direct cause was obscene Croatian defending, which was immediately preceded by a slack pass from Wayne Rooney, the move began with Rio Ferdinand swaggering deep into opposition territory. Like Terry's earlier poise, this sortie showed that England are no longer afraid to use the center of their defence as platform on which to build rather than merely a crude bulwark.

The fact that there never seemed to be any question of England sitting hopefully on their single goal lead once they had established it was further welcome evidence of what England seem to have got for £6m-per-year. But for a brief period in the first half when Croatians pouring forward from deep destabilized England's defence, the visitors were well on top in a city where only one other foreign country had scored a competitive goal.

Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry generally controlled the middle even before the home side were reduced to ten, Emile Heskey served as a diligent fulcrum up front and Rooney's clever and energetic wandering showed that he doesn't need to score to be crucial for his country. That he did score, of course, and with a finish as assured as all three of Walcott's, indicated that we may just have witnessed the birth of a new England.

If that's welcome, so too, perhaps, was Croatia's late consolation goal following sloppy English play: insofar as it reminded us that suddenly proclaiming this team future world champions would be premature.