Croatia 1 England 4: Capello vindicated as Croatia are humbled on home ground

It was two years later than scheduled but when Theo Walcott marks his coming of age for England in this sort of style, frankly, who cares about the wait? The boy-man from Arsenal scored a stunning hat-trick last night to deliver his side a fabulous victory and at last, for the first time in ages, English football had an England football team that matched their expectations. If only they could do this every time.

It is a long road to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and an even rockier path back to credibility for the England football team. But what a start. For Fabio Capello this was the England manager's Munich moment, just as when Sven Goran Eriksson announced his arrival seven years earlier with that 5-1 win over Germany in that very city. Capello dared to play Walcott, as well as Joe Cole, and his formation paid off handsomely. He has made some big decisions in the last month, leaving out Michael Owen above all, and no one would quibble now that he has made the wrong call.

Beating a fearsome young football nation who had never previously lost a competitive match on home soil took some bravery from the manager and that bravery was embodied in the performance of Walcott. Capello placed his faith in the young man and now perhaps we can begin to say goodbye to David Beckham, who at last has a successor worthy of the job. England benefited from the dismissal of Robert Kovac, which the Croatia manager, Slaven Bilic, bitterly contested, but they passed the ball with confidence. In fact, they passed the ball with the kind of control that has been alien to this side for so long.

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So now we know what Arsène Wenger could see in Walcott – and it turns out that the Arsenal manager was right all along. He normally is. For the first time in his senior career, Walcott did not look to pass to a more esteemed colleague when he had sight of goal. He did not shy from the challenge of an excellent left-back, Daniel Pranjic, who finished the game chasing Walcott's back. He did not drift out the game. This was the talent that Eriksson spotted before the 2006 World Cup, but now framed with a maturity that took the breath away at times.

Walcott is some natural finisher, his three goals were taken beautifully. But there were other brilliant performances, most notably Emile Heskey, whose international rehabilitation was remarkable last night. He dominated the Croatian back four, switching his position all across the back line in the face of some disgraceful racist slurs from the stands. Wayne Rooney scored his first goal since November last year and looked like a new man. Frank Lampard outshone Luka Modric in midfield.

It was a performance that said Capello could get England playing differently, not locked into the same frustrating, rigid formations that have made them so predictable in the past. They did play against 10 men for over 30 minutes but a man off among the opposition has never been a guarantee of a good performance – remember Brazil in the 2002 World Cup. This time they passed Croatia to death, linking up long sequences of possession that drew appreciative olés from the travelling support.

"It's just our second game," growled Capello last night, one man who is most definitely not about to get carried away with this result. Nevertheless, he did not witness the collapse of the England team in this stadium almost two years when they were overrun by the pace and aggression of Croatia. The home side were much the same last night, forcing England back from the very start, creating merry hell for Ashley Cole down the left side. This time, however, England looked much more solid.

As it looked like Modric might dictate play Gareth Barry began to track the Spurs midfielder. John Terry was forced into a couple of desperate clearances but England held out and, in the 25th minute, they took the lead. Before then Heskey had a good shout for a penalty turned down after a foul by Josep Simunic. Rio Ferdinand found Rooney and his pass was blocked by Pranjic, who played it against Kovac from where it fell into the path of Walcott.

The Walcott of last season might have doubled back or looked for a pass. Last night he hit his shot confidently across Stipe Pletikosa in the Croatia goal and into the far corner for his first senior goal for England. That settled the argument there and then about whether Capello had made the right choice to pick the player, but it was about to get a lot better.

Simunic was lucky not to be dismissed for a block on Rooney early in the second half and suddenly Croatia started to look ropy. Simunic escaped but his team did not. Kovac came in hard to win a header in midfield from Joe Cole and what followed was a moment to chill the blood. Cole stood up, then slumped to the turf. There was blood and protests from the England players.

It was not pleasant to watch but at least Cole was back in the dugout before the end of the game. Kovac was dismissed for leading with his elbow and Croatia fell apart. England's second goal began with Rooney, Heskey and Lampard exchanging a sequence of five passes before they found Walcott lurking on the right side of the box and, for the second time, he struck his shot crisply into the far corner.

This was beyond England's modest dreams but it just got better. Jermaine Jenas, on for Cole, got around the right side of Croatia's defence and cut the ball back to Rooney who passed the ball into the net. Croatia lost what little shape they had and, from the England fans, came the question: "Are you Scotland in disguise?" It was never supposed to be this good.

With England seemingly in complete control, the Croatia substitute Mario Mandzukic broke away to score, with the England players complaining Terry had been fouled. Words were exchanged and then came the happy ending. Rooney played in Walcott, who ran through to complete his hat-trick. After so much darkness it would be hard to begrudge this team a little joy.

Croatia (4-4-2): Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow); Corluka (Tottenham), Simunic (Hertha Berlin), R Kovac (Borussia Dortmund), Pranjic (Heerenveen); Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Modric (Tottenham), N Kovac (Salzburg), Rakitic (Schalke); Petric (Borussia Dortmund), Olic (Hamburg). Substitutes used: Knezevic (Juventus) for Petric, 56; Pokrivac (Monaco) for Kovac, 62; Mandzukic (Dynamo Zagreb) for Olic, 73.

England (4-4-2): James (Portsmouth); Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Terry (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea); Walcott (Arsenal), Barry (Aston Villa), Lampard (Chelsea), J Cole (Chelsea); Rooney (Manchester United), Heskey (Wigan). Substitutes used: Jenas (Tottenham) for J Cole, 55; Beckham (LA Galaxy) for Walcott, 85; Upson (West Ham) for Terry, 89.

Booked: Croatia Srna; England Heskey.

Sent off: R Kovac (53).

Referee: L Michel (Slovakia).

Man of the match: Walcott.

Yesterday's results: Andorra 1 Belarus 3; Croatia 1 England 4; Kazakhstan 1 Ukraine 3.

England's remaining fixtures: 11 Oct Kazakhstan (h); 15 Oct Belarus (a); 1 April 2009 Ukraine (h); 6 June Kazakhstan (a); 10 June Andorra (h); 9 Sept Croatia (h); 10 Oct Ukraine (a); 14 Oct Belarus (h).