England boss Fabio Capello defended his decision to deny Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney a hat-trick in their 6-0 thumping on Andorra last night.

Rooney scored twice in the first half of the 6-0 win that put Capello's men on the brink of qualifying for next year's World Cup but he was taken off at half-time despite being in the hunt for a hat-trick.

The Manchester United forward could also have broken Tommy Taylor's record of eight competitive goals in a season.

"I decided, 'Thank you very much, have a good holiday'," England boss Capello said.

Rooney's two goals sandwiched Frank Lampard's strike, then in the second half Jermain Defoe struck twice and Peter Crouch grabbed another against the weak Andorrans.

Capello, agreeing it was a perfect performance, said: "I think so, we were very strong.

"We had two chances before Rooney scored the first goal. Always when you play against a team that is not strong, you have to start quickly, press and win back the ball. That is what we did.

"We didn't start well against Andorra last time we played them, we didn't score but we moved on, step by step. In the group we created a different style and in every game we improved."