Crouch earns Neville praise

Phil Neville hailed Peter Crouch as "one of the most in-form strikers in world football" as he maintained his phenomenal scoring record for England to seal victory in their Euro 2008 qualifier against Macedonia.

The Liverpool striker's 46th-minute strike, via the underside of the bar, proved sufficient to ensure all three points in Skopje and took his goal tally for his country to 11 in the last 10 internationals.

Full-back Neville, of Everton, admitted: "I think in terms of international football, Crouchy is one of the most in-form strikers in world football at the moment. His goalscoring record is phenomenal. People go on about his height but his technical ability is second to none of any striker I know."

He added: "He is a real threat when these games come along. Hopefully he keeps scoring. He has been superb."

Goalkeeper Paul Robinson echoed Neville's sentiments and said: "Peter is fantastic for us. It wasn't so long ago he was getting a lot of stick from the England fans.

"He got his first goal for England and he hasn't looked back since. He has had an amazing run. We are all very pleased for him and long may it continue."

Apart from a late flurry, England were seldom tested despite the narrow scoreline, which ensured they had won their opening two games of a qualifying campaign for the first time in 10 years.

Neville said: "I thought we controlled the game for large parts. There were always going to be times when they huffed and puffed a bit but we have come out worthy winners.

"We have had two comfortable wins. The Andorra game [last Saturday] was a stroll in the park and, even though the scoreline was tight, for large parts of the Macedonian game we controlled it and kept them out of our half.

"I thought at any given time we could have gone on and scored the second goal but we just used our experience and we just played out the 1-0 victory."