Capello: The pressure was on Rooney, but he played very well

Wayne Rooney last night produced a "terrific" response after his week from hell.

Rooney scored and set England on their way to a priceless victory in Switzerland as he put his week from hell behind him after revelations about his affair with a prostitute.

Top 10 things we learned from Switzerland 1-3 England

Fabio Capello and Steven Gerrard both praised Rooney's brilliant display as he ensured England are already in pole position to qualify for Euro 2012.

England captain Gerrard said: "It's great for Wayne. All the talk before was about Wayne so it was nice for him to get the early goal and I'm sure that helped his performance.

"He was terrific like he was on Friday. I'm sure he will be great for us throughout the qualification matches."

England boss Capello said: "Wayne Rooney played very well. He was OK (mentally). It helped scoring the goal, too.

"I told you yesterday that he had been ok in training. I'd seen that. Now he plays an official game really well. The players want to play without other things on their minds. They can focus on the game alone. He did that today.

"He was really happy at the end, as were the other players at the end. The result was really important.

"We played the first half really well and had a lot of chances to score the second goal. We played a little bit lower in the second half, even though we had chances."

Capello had admitted that he had been worried about Rooney's state of mind but the Manchester United striker repaid his manager's faith, scoring after just ten minutes. It was his first goal for England for 12 months.

It now gives England a terrific start to the Euro 2012 campaign and Capello hailed the all round performance of his team after goals from substitutes Adam Johnson and Darren Bent completed the rout in Basle.

Capello said: "Switzerland, on paper, were the most difficult opponents in our group so to win here is really, really important. But the result wasn't everything. It was also about the performance of the team. That was really important."

Gerrard added: "I think the first-half performance was perfect. Everything the manager asked of us, we got the game-plan spot on.

"I think we got a little bit lazy in the second half and they came into the game, but it was never in doubt. People were talking about how good Switzerland are defensively, but we just tore them apart."

The only downsides for England was another booking for James Milner who now misses next month's home game with Montenegro.

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was also stretchered off but X-rays showed last night that he has only sprained his right ankle.

Capello, who also says Jermain Defoe's ankle injury is not serious, said: "I just spoke with Theo. He tells me it's not such a big problem. I said: 'Two weeks?' He told me less."

Switzerland 1-3 England: Rooney ends week from hell on a high