Goals from Niko Kovac, Luka Modric and substitute Mladen Petric did the trick for Croatia, who will now be full of confidence heading into Wednesday's clash with England.

Kovac made it 1-0 with a header after 13 minutes from Darijo Srna's cross, and Tottenham summer signing Modric doubled the lead with a fine strike after being set up by Ivan Klasnic 10 minutes before the break.

That was how it stayed until Hamburg forward Petric, who had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes after replacing Klasnic, rounded off the scoring in the 79th minute.

In Barcelona, Joe Cole came off the bench to spare Fabio Capello's blushes as England finally overcame the minnows of Andorra 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium.

Two goals from the former West Ham player in the space of six minutes early in the second half eased the frustration of the players and supporters after an uninspiring first 45 minutes.

The atmosphere among the 10,000 England fans at kick-off time was in sharp contrast to the negative vibes aimed at Steve McClaren when the teams met at the same venue 18 months ago.

But this mood had changed before the interval and the players left the pitch to a crescendo of boos and cries of "what a load of rubbish" from the fans.

England finally broke the deadlock four minutes after the break when Joleon Lescott was first to react to Frank Lampard's free-kick into the box and, when it was turned back across the box, Cole was ideally placed to volley home in clinical fashion.

Six minutes later Cole struck for the second time. Gareth Barry and Rooney were involved in the build-up before the Chelsea man's first-time effort beat Koldo's dive.

Earlier, Ukraine laboured to a last-gasp 1-0 win over neighbours Belarus in Lviv courtesy of a stoppage-time penalty from striker Andriy Shevchenko.

The visitors looked set to earn a creditable point from their short trip south, until Aleksandr Kulchiya handled in the box in the dying seconds and referee Nicola Rizzoli pointed to the spot.

Recent AC Milan signing Shevchenko made the most of the opportunity to deny Moldova a draw.