ANDORRA 0, ENGLAND 2

JOE COLE is England’s most in-form marksman — so why on earth does Fabio Capello keep sticking him on the bench?

Forget Wayne Rooney, forget Jermain Defoe, forget David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard!

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Cole has scored three goals in his last 78 minutes of action for his country but the Chelsea star will still be sweating on a place in the starting line-up for the big one in Zagreb on Wednesday night.

Click here to see all the pictures from England's win over Andorra

Yet he transformed England here in Barcelona with a virtuoso performance that made a mockery of the lacklustre labouring of his colleagues.

And in the process he also ridiculed Capello’s crazy decision to play Stewart Downing ahead of him.

Middlesbrough winger Downing again proved a dud at international level and at least Capello cottoned on to the fact, putting him out of his misery at half-time.

On came a fired-up Cole to rescue England for the second game running.

Remember his late, late equaliser at Wembley which salvaged a fortunate 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic last month.

That time he had been dumped in favour of Gerrard on the left.

It didn’t work, Gerrard was hauled off and Cole came on to save the day. Here he was doing it all over again.

Within four minutes of entering the fray at the Olympic Stadium he was on target to pick up where he left off in London.

COLE POWER - Joe Cole gets the final touch for his second goal against Andorra

John Terry’s free-kick forward was turned across the face of goal by Joleon Lescott and Cole’s right boot volleyed it home brilliantly.

Six minutes later he latched on to Rooney’s smart pass to make it two and seal three welcome World Cup qualifying points as England begin the road to South Africa.

Talking of Rooney, when was the last time Wazza scored two in an international match? The answer is Croatia in 2004!

That is where Capello & Co are heading now, not that Slaven Bilic and his side will be intimidated after another alarming no-show performance from the Three Lions.

For, Cole apart, there was little to enthuse about.

Rooney is the biggest worry.

What has happened to the wonderkid who exploded on to the international scene in such devastating fashion?

There is no doubting his commitment, courage and effort but he never once threatened to expose the limitations of this bunch of Andorran amateurs.

England’s latest boy wonder, Theo Walcott, fared better.

Like Rooney he has been tipped as a future world-beater.

HEADS UP - Gareth Barry rises to head clear against Andorra

It hasn’t quite happened yet, at club or country level.

But there were signs of promise.

His blistering pace is a real asset and he started brightly but faded away too soon and too easily.

There were far more established stars who did worse, though.

None bad enough to be dropped or banished. But none showing signs that England are ready to take the world stage by storm in 2010.

Beckham got a big cheer when he popped on for the last 10 minutes to pick up another cap. But the LA Galaxy midfielder added little to proceedings.

And once again we saw players who shine for their clubs go dim in the harsh glare of international scrutiny. There are those who clamour for new blood to pump new life into a repeatedly lethargic England outfit.

Yet Downing’s demise against these no-hopers shows the second string are not necessarily any better than the supposed top flight.

So what of the action?

Well there wasn’t much apart from Cole’s double and a lot of huff and puff.

In the first minute he showed a terrific turn of pace to sprint clear and whip in a dangerous cross. Defoe dived in but keeper Koldo Alvarez made a brave save at the Pompey forward’s feet, getting clattered in the process.

Glen Johnson then flashed a fierce effort just wide.

Yet the early goal did not materialise and sure enough the optimism faded.

With 21 minutes showing on the scoreboard, Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen gave way to “We hate Setanta” in protest against the satellite channel’s exclusive coverage of the match.

Capello’s Plan A — such as it was — didn’t work but England got away with it because it was only Andorra.

Croatia might not be so accommodating so it is vital the gameplan is spot on for Wednesday.

Bilic’s men have never been beaten in a competitive match in Zagreb and England still have the nightmare memory of the last trip there in October 2006. The Gary Neville backpass and Paul Robinson air shot typified another woeful show.

Now OK, this was always going to be low key in comparison to the key clash with the Croats.

Even in the pre-match build-up here in Barcelona most of the talk was centred on the game ahead of this one. And the match reflected that.

HAIR WE GO - Glen Johnson skips clear of a tackle in Barcelona

To be fair there was some excitement and anticipation in these parts before the game, with fans queuing excitedly outside.

But that was only because Coldplay were in concert next door!

Inside the three-quarters empty football stadium it was a different story.

And as the band’s hits boomed out across the ground after England’s tortured victory, there was an overpowering sense of being in totally the wrong place.