On This Day in 2006: England hammer Greece in Steve McClaren’s first game
The former Middlesbrough boss took over from Sven-Goran Eriksson and dropped ex-skipper David Beckham for the friendly at Old Trafford.
Steve McClaren began his reign as England manager in style with a 4-0 win over Greece on this day in 2006.
The former Middlesbrough boss took over from Sven-Goran Eriksson and dropped ex-skipper David Beckham for the friendly at Old Trafford.
John Terry marked his first match as captain by heading the opening goal after Stewart Downing had played the ball into the penalty area.
Frank Lampard then scored with a deflected shot before his close-range effort rebounded for Peter Crouch to stab home.
Crouch rounded off the scoring with a downward header to make it an encouraging start for the new boss.
However, England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 meant McClaren, who was lampooned as the ‘wally with the brolly’ following the 3-2 defeat to Croatia at a soggy Wembley, lost his job 18 months later.
England turned to Italian Fabio Capello to take over while McClaren moved on to Dutch club FC Twente, leading them to the Eredivisie title in 2010.
