Famous five: England's best wins under Sven Goran Eriksson

Sam Wallace
Monday 14 November 2005 01:00 GMT
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Germany 1 England 5 - 1/11/2001, Munich, World Cup qualifier

Football nirvana. An Owen hat-trick after Germany take the lead. Swashbuckling, counter-attacking football humiliates the old enemy on their own ground. Ushers in the long-awaited decline of the German national team.

Argentina 2 England 3 - 12/11/2005, Geneva, Switzerland, friendly

No-one cared it was a friendly. A thrilling injury-time victory over the team ranked second in the world that restores some faith in Eriksson's flagging regime ahead of the World Cup finals. An England team that doesn't know when they're beaten.

Argentina 0 England 1 - 7/6/2002, Sapporo, Japan, World Cup finals

Victory at last over the team that had eliminated England from the World Cup four years earlier. To add to the drama it was a Beckham penalty that decided it. Argentina did not even progress past the group stages.

Turkey 0 England 0 - 11/10/2003, Istanbul, Euro 2004 qualifier

Eriksson places his faith in the relatively inexperienced Terry and Rooney and only a missed penalty by Beckham denies England victory. In the hostile Sukru Saracoglu stadium, with away fans banned, England clinched qualification.

England 3 Switzerland 0 - 17/6/2004, Coimbra, Portugal, Euro 2004 finals

The following 4-2 win over Croatia was just as good in many ways, but this was the moment that Rooney announced himself at Euro 2004 with two goals. The Swiss could not contain him - a world star had been born.

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