On wednesday, Sven-Goran Eriksson needed an acceptable performance and an emphatic victory to persuade doubters that appointing a foreigner to coach England was not the biggest insult to national pride since Errol Flynn liberated Burma.

Following the 3-0 result, he ended up with both, and since the new coach had introduced himself to the squad only two days earlier, England fans could hardly have asked for more. Predictably, Eriksson begged people not to get carried away by Wednesday's result. "When you win a friendly against Spain 3-0 you must try to keep both feet on the ground," he insisted.

Wednesday's performance has merely raised the hope that England can qualify for the 2002 World Cup despite taking only a point from their opening two qualifiers.

In this context the brightest aspect of the win was the general readiness of Eriksson's new charges to take responsibility for their performances. With a minimum of time to get across his ideas and having established little beyond the fact that he prefers a 4-4-2 formation, the coach played everybody except Emile Heskey in his club position and was rewarded by the swiftness with which various combinations found a rapport.

Eriksson made six changes at half-time and another when Gary Neville replaced his brother Phil at right-back. Amid the reshuffle the understanding and confident passing and movement of Nick Barmby, Michael Owen and Andy Cole was a constant factor.

Far from having to scratch around for a worthwhile England team, then, Eriksson would appear to have a luxury of choice. A healthy competition for places is never a bad thing and only Sol Campbell, Paul Scholes and David Beckham are virtually certain of selection.

However, all Eriksson has done so far is say hello. The imminent World Cup qualifiers will be the true test of the significance of Wednesday's win.