The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Minsk

Wayne Rooney has set England a target of winning all of their remaining World Cup qualifiers after his double helped Fabio Capello's squad to a 3-1 win over Belarus and a four-out-of-four start to the campaign to reach South Africa 2010.

Capello appears to have the knack of getting the best out of Rooney, who has now scored five goals in his last three internationals, and the striker joined his team-mates in underlining the extent to which the new manager has transformed a squad that dismally failed to reach Euro 2008.

"We have got that belief to win now," Rooney said. "We are going to games believing we can win them with a lot of confidence.

"We have worked really hard to be in the position we are in and now we've got to keep working hard. We are in a comfortable position now and we need to get as many points as possible over the remaining games.

"It would be nice to win all the qualifiers. The two most difficult games, in Belarus and Croatia, we have got out of the way and we have managed to come out with maximum points. So I don't see any reason why we can't win all the qualifiers now."

One of the keys to England's revival has been the way Capello has transformed Rooney from a player who failed to score a single competitive goal for his country between 2004 and 2007 into one of the most in-form strikers in world football.

"The manager's the one that has brought it all in for us," said David Beckham, whose late appearance as a substitute won him a 107th cap, leaving him third in the record books behind Peter Shilton (125) and Bobby Moore (108).

"He knows how to win, he knows how to play these games. He's managed so many big sides and knows how to get the players ready. The players are confident now."

Rooney settled the contest with two well-taken second-half strikes but the Manchester United man insisted the plaudits should be shared around.

"I give a lot of credit to my team-mates," he said. "It was great individual work by Emile (Heskey) for my first goal and a great pass by Stevie (Gerrard) for the second."

England were pegged back by Pavel Sitko's equaliser after Gerrard had given them an early lead.

But they switched gear in the wake of Capello's half-time pep talk and ran out comfortable winners.

"He told us we had to get tighter to them, get more on the ball and control the game and we did that in the second half," Rooney revealed.

Rio Ferdinand, who captained the side in the absence of the injured John Terry, added: "The half-time talk was quite simple. He said push up from the back and keep competing.

"You think it is going to be rocket science with a foreign manager but he keeps it simple and that is one of his strengths."

Ferdinand added: "It is good to have won four games on the bounce but there is much to improve and it does not mean we have qualified," the Manchester United defender said.

"We need to keep trying to improve, doing the simple things right as we do for our clubs and hopefuly we will start getting it right for England."

Having admitted earlier this week that he feared for his place after consistently failing to reproduce his Liverpool form for England, Gerrard was pleased to play a central role with a well-taken goal and an assist on Rooney's second.

"Playing for England you have always got a point to prove," he said. "You are fighting for the shirt every game.

"As long as I am in the team and we are winning matches I am happy. I felt I played well tonight. Sometimes I have not hit the heights I would like to for England but I will always give everything for my country."

Gerrard went on to underline the difference that Rooney, in his current form, makes to England.

"He's up there with the best players in the world," Gerrard said. "He is a special talent and it is a pleasure to play with him."