Baby146;s day out

8220;Two beautiful goals, 18 years old, with this performance at this level 8212; it8217;s incredible,8221; England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said.

Still bearing the scars of a 2-1 stoppage time defeat by France in their Group B opener on Sunday, England only settled in the closing stages after Swiss defender Bernt Haas was sent off.

Rooney8217;s third international record after becoming England8217;s youngest player and youngest scorer last year as a 17-year-old threw them a lifeline before their final group game against Croatia.

It put them level on three points with France, who play Croatia later on Thursday. The Swiss have one point, the same as the Croatians.

Faced with a match they could not afford to lose, England were a bag of nerves in the early stages, over-hitting passes forward for Michael Owen and conceding a flurry of free kicks and corners to a composed Swiss side. Unable to build any rhythm, England8217;s frustration showed after 19 minutes when Rooney followed through on grounded Swiss keeper Joerg Stiel.

The 18-year-old conceded a free kick two minutes later for a barge, showing all the signs of a player about to get a red card.

Instead, he made history when David Beckham picked out an unmarked Owen at the far post and the striker8217;s chip across the goal gave Rooney an easy close-range header.

A disappointing Owen could have added a second before the break had he been able to connect properly with Ashley Cole8217;s raking low ball across the face of the goal.

England had previously failed to score in the second half of their last six matches in major championships under Eriksson. Reuters