Wayne Rooney made history with his second-half goal and David Beckham scored the winner on a penalty as England rallied to beat Macedonia 2-1 in Euro 2004 qualifying Saturday.
Macedonia, matching England in the first half in Skopje, took the lead with a Georgi Hristov goal in the 28th minute.
But England woke up in the second half.
Beckham crossed a ball to Emile Heskey -- a second-half sub -- and his header fell perfectly to Rooney. The Everton striker, running forward, shot past Petar Milosevski with a low shot from 12 yards out in the 53rd minute.
Rooney, at 17 years and 317 days, became the youngest ever England scorer, surpassing strike partner Michael Owen. Owen was 18 years and 164 days old when he scored against Morocco in 1998.
"Everyone knows what Wayne can do," Beckham said. "He's a great player and a great lad."
Beckham, England's best player, created the chance that led to the penalty. His pass found defender John Terry, who made his way into the opposing penalty area. Terry was brought down by substitute Aguinaldo de Jesus Braga, and referee Franck De Bleeckere pointed to the spot.
Beckham shot past Milosevski to make it 2-1 in the 63rd.
"It was my duty to score," Beckham said.
He claimed he was spat on and verbally abused by unnamed Macedonian players. According to Beckham, one opponent told him, "Be careful, you'll die tonight.'' He said he laughed it off.
"I've been through a lot worse than that," Beckham said. "Still, there are things on the pitch that shouldn't be going on on the pitch.
"I'm not sure we deserved to be down in the first half," he added. "It was character again that brought us through the second half."
England has 16 points from six games in Group 7. Turkey, which had 15 points from six games, was to play Liechtenstein later on Saturday.
"Macedonia has a good team and it showed today," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. "I'm very proud of my players. Once again they showed they can come back from 1-0 down."
Eriksson called the first half a "lackluster" affair but praised his squad for ``keeping their heads cool'' and not losing patience.
England and Turkey are expected to battle for the automatic qualifying berth in Istanbul on Oct. 11.
Macedonia, which surprisingly played to a 2-2 draw with England last October, threatened early in the first half.
Beckham had to clear an Artim Sakiri corner in the sixth minute -- Sakiri embarrassed 'keeper David Seaman last October when he scored from a corner as the teams played to a 2-2 tie.
Hristov's goal came after a defensive mistake. Left-back Ashley Cole couldn't prevent a cross, and central defender Sol Campbell slipped and failed to clear the ball in the box. It fell to Hristov, and his shot hit a sliding David James in the legs before going into the net.
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