McClaren delighted with England performance

England 4 Greece 0

Steve McClaren hailed England’s dominant performance after watching his side beat Greece 4-0 in his first match as head coach.

For McClaren it was the best opening night for an England coach in 60 years as new skipper John Terry led a four-goal rout of the European champions.

Terry took just 15 minutes to nod home the first goal of McClaren’s tenure as England burst free of their World Cup malaise in the perfect fashion.

Frank Lampard added a second, then Peter Crouch netted a brace before half-time as England’s new coach celebrated the biggest win in a first game since Walter Winterbottom’s side defeated Northern Ireland 7-2 in 1946.

McClaren told BBC1: “I’m delighted, it was the performance we wanted and the performance we asked for.

“We defended well as a team, we worked hard as a team, passed the ball and the biggest thing was the way we controlled the game through possession, our passing and patience. We brought out the best in the players.

“We played with a bit of freedom after the first goal and the passing was excellent. Some of the performances were outstanding.

“I made sure at half-time I said keep another clean sheet and get another goal.

“We didn’t quite get that but we played as a team. The team wanted that clean sheet and worked hard to get it.”