AFP, Paris

Taking a gamble seemed out of character for England's Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson - but it paid off on Wednesday as he threw 17-year-old Wayne Rooney into the fray and saw him play a big part in a 2-0 Euro 2004 qualifier win over Turkey.

The three points propelled England to the top of Group Seven with ten points to nine for the Turks after

Rooney showed the passion that the British media had accused the team of lacking in Saturday's lacklustre 2-0 win in Liechtenstein.

Rooney came in for the dropped Emile Heskey of Liverpool, despite the fact that the latter had been the provider for clubmate Michael Owen's opener in Liechtenstein.

Eriksson also brought in Manchester United's Nicky Butt in place of Kieron Dyer to allow Paul Scholes greater freedom in midfield for what was England's biggest match since last summer's World Cup quarter-final defeat by Brazil.

After 57 minutes of English pressure which had failed to bring a breakthrough Eriksson withdrew Owen, who had picked up a knock, and sent on Aston Villa's Darius Vassell - who promptly scored from close range to break the deadlock.

Rooney then gave way in the closing moments to Dyer, who won the penalty from which skipper David Deckham wrapped up the win.

The Turks took their goalless run against England to nine matches -which included two 8-0 thrashings -although since then the visitors have made enormous strides and took third place at the World Cup.

In addition they had won their opening three qualifiers whereas England had dropped home points in a

shambolic 2-2 draw against Macedonia five months ago.

But this time the English passion returned.

"There was definitely passion, straight from the off," said skipper Beckham.

"It's a great night for English football."

Defending European champions France meanwhile bagged their fifth straight win in Group One with a 2-1 success over Israel in Palermo which leaves them as good as qualified.

The French, who posted a scintillating 6-0 win over Malta at the weekend, were less assured in a match played amid a stifling security presence - a byproduct of the political situation in the Middle East.

But David Trezeguet and Zinedine Zidane secured the points after Omri Afek had given the Israelis a shock lead in the second minute.

Group rivals Slovenia beat Cyprus 4-1 but trail the French by nine points, albeit with two matches in hand.

Scotland could have done with a Rooney, meanwhile, as they went down 1-0 in Lithuania, who showed their draw in Germany on Saturday was no fluke.

The Lithuanians denied their status as Group Five also-rans by winning courtesy of Tomas Razanauskas's 73rd-minute penalty, awarded for a foul by

Jackie McNamara of Celtic.

Razanauskas had also been on target in the 1-1 draw in Germany.

Scotland's German coach Berti Vogts said his men could only blame themselves for not finding the net.

"We had to score and we didn't. I don't know if it was a penalty. I will have to watch it again," said the man who must plot his own country's downfall in the group.

Elsewhere, Ireland could only draw 0-0 in Albania while Group Ten rivals Switzerland settled for the same score in Georgia.

The Swiss now have a two-point lead over Russia with Albania third and the Irish fourth.

In Group Three the Czech Republic beat Austria 4-0 to stay top ahead of Holland on goal difference. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Mark van Bommel were on target as the Dutch won 2-1 in Moldova, coming from behind.

In Group Two, a goal from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer helped Norway to a 20 win in Luxembourg for their seventh successive away win in Euro qualifiers going back to 1995.

The streak equals previous runs by the former Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic.

Norway are three points clear of Denmark, who had been top on goal difference, after the Danes, who won 5-

2 at Romania on Saturday, somehow slumped 2-0 at home to dark horses Bosnia-Herzagovina.

Poland top Group Four on goal difference from Latvia after hammering San Marino 5-0 while Sweden are still in the hunt after a 2-1 win in Hungary.

In Group Six, Northern Ireland made it eight games without a goal as they lost 2-0 to Greece in Belfast while leaders Spain beat Armenia 3-0 to take their lead over Ukraine to four points.

Bulgaria head up Group Eight despite only drawing 0-0 at Estonia while Croatia trail them by three points following a 2-0 home win over minnows Andorra.

Euro 2004 qualifier results on Wednesday: