Rooney steers England win

Lisbon:

England football fans celebrated in Lisbon on Monday as England beat Croatia 4-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the Euro 2004 championships. England's defence had struggled with a series of free-kicks in the previous game against Switzerland and the Croatians were quick to exploit that nervousness in just the fifth minute of the game.

Scholes, Rooney excel But six minutes before the break, England put their best move of the half together resulting in a goal for Paul Scholes. He soon turned from the goal scorer into the goal creator. Teenager Wayne Rooney scored twice for the second game in a row, making him the top scorer at Euro 2004 with four goals. The 18-year-old striker scored with a long range shot and a push past the goalkeeper from 18 metres, as England fought back after falling behind 1-0 in the first five minutes. Frank Lampard hit the fourth goal for England, which needed just one point to make the last eight. Niko Kovac and Igor Tudor scored for the Croatians, who finished in third place ahead of Switzerland. England, which has finished second in Group B behind France, will now meet Portugal in the first quarterfinal on Thursday, and with England peaking just at the right time, the hosts could be in for a tough fight. (With AP inputs)