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The most encouraging aspect of England's defeat of Bulgaria on Friday night was not so much the result, or indeed the winning margin, but the nature of the victory. It was fitting that England were kitted out in untraditional blue because the way they played was such a departure from their customary pedestrian offerings that for a moment you could have been forgiven for mistaking Fabio Capello's two-toned charges for a visiting Argentina side.

At this point it would be prudent to point out that England were playing a particularly bad Bulgaria outfit shorn of their only guiding light, Dimitar Berbatov, who has decided to walk away from international football in order to concentrate on sitting on the bench at Old Trafford. The Manchester United striker might have been on the end of any one of the three dangerous crosses that penetrated England's rearguard but which no Bulgaria forward had the instinct to attack.

As it was, though, Lothar Matthaus's side were disappointing; this is a far cry from the team that dramatically knocked out France of the 1994 World Cup qualifiers and went on to reach the last-four in the United States, eliminating Matthaus's own Germany on the way. How Hristo Stoichkov, Iordan Letchkov and other members of that Golden Generation must have felt their age watching their modern-day successors chase shadows in Sofia. But football - on the international stage at least - is cyclical and England fans can draw comfort from the greenhorns suddenly emerging under Capello.

The 2010 World Cup disaster was another low point in the national game: creativity, pace and ball-retention were non-existent, team tactics were predictable, a goalkeeping void needed filling, and the Frank Lampard-Steven Gerrard quandary remained unresolved. More alarmingly, a lack of promising youngsters coming through the ranks gave scant cause for optimism. But fourteen months on, the landscape has changed considerably. Most of these issues appear to have been addressed and Capello is now falling over exciting new prospects.

The man who overlooked Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson for the ill-fated trip to South Africa has at last recognised the need to inject pace and youth into the side. He did this on Friday by deploying a six-man defensive shield, diligently spearheaded by Gareth Barry and Scott Parker - the latter chosen at the expense of Lampard - and selecting four pacy forwards to terrorise the Bulgarian back-line at the top of a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation.

The plan worked to perfection, with Parker taking his chance with a brave and dynamic central midfield performance that raises questions as to why Tottenham were the only side to swoop for him in the transfer window. In attack, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young transferred their sudden but wonderful understanding at club level to the international stage, while Stewart Downing - a star in the making - deserved a goal and was unlucky to hit the post with a header.

Probably the best performance of all though came from Gary Cahill, who outshone John Terry in central defence. It can only be a matter of time before the Bolton man becomes an England regular as he is fast justifying his reputation as a goalscoring defender with great positional sense. Not only did he show his team the way with a superbly taken opening goal of which Rooney would have been proud but he underscored his importance where he is needed most - on more than one occasion he covered for lapses by Terry.

It remains to be seen how these players will fare when tested against opposition of bearing, but Capello's new guard (average age 25) came through this first test with flying colours, playing with a confidence and a freedom of expression that is perhaps the fruit of a more relaxed approached from Don Fabio, who is in his last few months in the job. England - who against a weakened Wales side in midweek are 1.15 to win at Wembley; 9.4 to draw - were tactically disciplined at the back, comfortable yet nimble in possession. They were also jet-heeled and inventive in attack, where even Walcott for once used the ball wisely, only blotting his copybook in the second half when wasting a sumptuous pass from the outstanding Rooney.

With the likes of Jack Wilshere, Phil Jones and Tom Cleverly waiting in the wings, are the two-toned generation ready to launch a first bid to win a major tournament? They are 9.8 to win Euro 2012. Just don't let them change the kit back.

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