Brooking hails success

In all, England sides at every level faced 15 matches in eight days and won 12 of them, drawing twice and losing just once. In the ten qualification matches that were played, England won nine of their games and were unbeaten.

Peter Taylor's Under-21s faced a double-header against Germany and Azerbaijan and they were unfortunate not to match Sven's side's record of two wins out of two.

Having gone a goal down at Hull City's KC Stadium, Darren Bent and Dean Ashton put England in front only for Roberto Hilbert to hit a last-minute equaliser to give the Germans a point.

However Taylor's side bounced back from that disappointment with a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan at the Riverside Stadium, the goals coming from John Welsh and Dean Ashton once more.

Meanwhile the England Under-19 and Under-17 teams both won all three of their mini qualification tournament matches for the sides' respective European Championships.

The success of those two England youth teams in particular pleased The FA's Director of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking.

"It is excellent news that both the Under-17s and Under-19s have qualified for the respective European Championships," Sir Trevor told TheFA.com. "I saw the Under-19s' win over Sweden and I was very impressed with what I saw.

"To get through the Elite Stage of qualifying with six wins from six games against some quality opposition is a great achievement and now we are all hoping we can do well in the Finals."

The Under-19s, led by coach Martin Hunter, won all their games 1-0 and, thanks to results elsewhere, secured their passage through to the Finals in Northern Ireland in July before their final match.

They opened their account with a single goal victory over a dangerous Denmark side, the goal coming from the outstanding Lee Holmes.

They then matched that result in their second game against Sweden courtesy of Dexter Blackstock's last minute winner.

The final win came against the already-eliminated Moldova, a game England won after Sunderland's Grant Leadbitter stroked home a confident penalty.

Brooking added: "The Under-19s have a good chance in Northern Ireland in July and I have no doubt that Martin [Hunter] will have the side ready for the task at hand."

John Peacock's Under-17s also won all three of their matches and did so in convincing fashion.

Like the Under-19s they are ranked as Europe's no.1 side and they showed their class in the opening match against Serbia & Montenegro where they came back from going a goal down to win 3-1.

Charlton Athletic's Myles Weston, Theo Walcott of Southampton and Blackburn's Joe Garner all scored as England jumped straight to the top of their group.

Over 8,000 fans turned up to Molineux to see England play in their second match - a 3-0 win against Northern Ireland.

This time James Vaughan headed in his first England goal and the U17s went further ahead thanks to Mark Davies, captaining this side on his home ground, and Michael Mancienne.

Needing just a point in their final game, Peacock's side put on another impressive display against the Republic of Ireland and once again they fired in three goals.

West Ham's Hogan Ephraim opened the scoring and midfielder Walcott soon added a second. In the game's final moments, Everton striker Vaughan got his second of the campaign to make the game safe.

"The Under-17s have had a superb record over the past few years, reaching the European Championship Semi-Finals in each of the last four years," Brooking said. "John Peacock prepares his side very well and I have high hopes for them doing well in Italy in May."

Finally, in a friendly tournament in the Vendée region of France, Kenny Swain's England Under-16s were involved in the annual Montaigu Tournament.

Having lost their opening match against Japan, the England youngsters bounced back with a draw against Portugal and wins over Cameroon and the Ivory Coast.

Manchester City striker Daniel Sturridge scored three times in the tournament, with Manchester United's Michael Nardiello grabbing two.

Round-up of England's matches