23 June 2004	Wednesday	04 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

LISBON, June 22: Teenage sensation Wayne Rooney powered England into the quarterfinals of Euro 2004 with two goals in Monday's 4-2 defeat of Croatia and they were joined in the last eight by champions France who beat Switzerland 3-1.

Striker Thierry Henry scored twice late on for France while Swiss striker Johann Vonlanthen's goal in the first half made him the youngest scorer in European Championship history.

England now face a mouth watering quarterfinal on Thursday against hosts Portugal who had sparked a night of wild celebrations by beating neighbours Spain 1-0 on Sunday. France will take on surprise package Greece on Friday, also in Lisbon.

Rooney, who had been the youngest European Championship scorer when hitting his first double against Switzerland, is now the tournament's top scorer with four goals. The 18-year-old's all-round display would have had club owners around the world checking their bank balances to see if they could afford a player whose worth to his present employers, Everton, goes up by millions every game he plays in Portugal.

England, who needed just a draw to qualify, had suffered a shock after five minutes when Nico Kovac pounced from close range to give Croatia the lead. Rooney created England's equaliser for Paul Scholes after 40 minutes and then belted his side in front six minutes later with a ferocious right-foot shot.

Rooney galloped clear to make it 3-1 after 68 minutes and although Igor Tudor headed a second for a spirited Croatia side, Frank Lampard sealed victory late on. In Coimbra, Zinedine Zidane headed France into a 20th-minute lead with his third goal of the tournament but Vonlanthen, 18 years and four months old, rocked the holders six minutes later with a cool angled finish.

Henry sealed a quarterfinal place with his first goals of the tournament in the 76th and 84th minutes. Vonlanthen was playing only because striker Alexander Frei was provisionally suspended until the end of Euro 2004 after television footage showed him spitting at an England player during last week's match in Coimbra.

Frei, who has denied spitting, was pulled out of the Swiss team just hours before the kickoff. UEFA then announced that he had been suspended for 15 days. -Reuters

Group 'B' standings:  



(Tabulated under - played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):



France         	       3       2       1       0       7       4       7



England        	       3       2       0       1       8       4       6



Croatia  	                3       0       2       1       4       6       2



Switzerland              3       0       1       2       1       6       1