Sport 03-09-2001 Review of the Year: England`s Historic Win: It Wasn`t A Dream who: England football team what: Beat Germany 1-5 in World Cup qualifier where: Munich when: Saturday snippet: "When the Scotland manager calls an England performance `superb`, something extraordinary must have happened in the world of football," says Richard Williams in The Guardian, two days after England ended 35 years of hurt by beating Germany by 5 goals to 1 in Munich. The Telegraph puts Saturday night`s result in perspective: "England had not defeated the Germans on their own soil since 1965," says today`s leader, "and the margin of its success was even greater than the 6-3 win in Berlin in 1938." "Founded on Michael Owen`s first hat-trick in international football," says The Independent`s Mark Burton, "the victory boosts England`s chances of qualifying for next year`s finals in South Korea and Japan, while Germany have to worry about going through a play-off." "I have never seen a better England team," says German footballing legend Franz Beckenbauer in The Sun. "And I have never seen an England team playing better football. They had pace, aggression, movement and skill." The team are now in Northumberland, where they begin training for Wednesday night`s game against Albania at St James` Park. "It`s very easy to think that we`ve already won the World Cup," said coach Sven Goran Eriksson yesterday, warning that we should not let the euphoria go to our heads with the simple reminder: "We are not even in the World Cup." [... more]

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