Belarus 1 England 3: Liverpool's Steven Gerrard shoots down critics

He put Wayne Rooney in for England's third goal and the former Everton striker's second of the night in Minsk, ending all hopes of a home upset.

The 3-1 victory ensured England made history in winning all four of their opening World Cup qualifiers for the first time.

"Playing for England you always have a point to prove," Gerrard said. "You are fighting for the shirt every game and it's always nice to score and win.

"A lot of people have been talking about me and Frank Lampard and where I'm going to play all week but as long as I am in this team and we are winning football matches I'm happy.

"I thought I played well but every game I play for club or country I try to play the best I can.

"Sometimes I haven't always hit the heights I would have liked to but I'm moving forward now and I'll continue to work hard and give everything I have got for the country."

And goal hero Rooney has challenged his England team-mates to maintain their 100% record on the road to South Africa 2010.

The Manchester United striker's second-half double at the Dinamo Stadium completed the victory and ensured England's best start to a modern World Cup qualifying campaign.

"It'd be nice to win all of them. I don't see any reason why not," he said.

"The two most difficult games - away in Croatia and Belarus - are out of the way and we've got maximum points from them."

Capello's men have broken the back of their qualifying campaign after the Italian instilled belief in a squad that failed to reach Euro 2008.

"We're going into games now believing we can win them. We've got a lot of confidence," said Rooney, who has worked with Capello on his finishing and has five goals in his last three matches.

"Goals are going in for me and I'm really pleased. I work every day on my finishing and it's going well.

"I've worked a lot with the manager on finishing since he's come over, it's starting to pay off on the pitch. I believe I'm going to score in any game anyway. I'm a confident person and I'm delighted they are going in."

Stand-in skipper Rio Ferdinand admitted: "It's good but still there is much to improve.

"It doesn't make us qualify because we have won four on the bounce - it puts us in a good position."

Of Gerrard's performance, he added: "Maybe he was a little over-critical of himself. You can't always be superman for every game you play.

"He does it a lot for Liverpool and he has done it a couple of times for England.

"He is his own worst critic because you want to do it all the time."