The end of the world is not, after all, nigh, but there was a very big bang in Zagreb yesterday, the sound of English football exploding into vibrant life under the guidance of its imported manager, Fabio Capello. This was creation, indeed, quite simply the greatest night for the national team since Sven-Göran Eriksson’s players returned from Munich seven years ago, having thumped Germany 5-1.

If perhaps not as patriotically emotive as that occasion, this result was every bit its equal in terms of achievement, coming against a country who had never lost a competitive match on home soil.

It was more significant than Munich in many ways, for it confirmed the emergence of a player with the potential to change English football, accelerating it towards the future like so many protons in a Large Hadron Collider. Theo Walcott, 19 and with the exuberance of youth, scored the first international hat-trick for England in a competitive match since Michael Owen against Germany in 2001. In doing so, he inspired a group of players who were believed to be at their lowest ebb and altered the dynamic around them overnight.

At the European Championship finals in the summer, the speed of movement from the best teams made absent England look ever more antiquated and miserable. No more. This was high-octane stuff. Walcott and Wayne Rooney buzzed, Emile Heskey bustled, Frank Lampard was impressive in the heart of midfield. Players who were, for whatever reason, absent may now be on the outside looking in. This was the performance England’s followers have craved for more than four years and it will be hard for Capello to forget the individuals who came through for him in a match that was always going to define his early years in charge of England.

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BACKGROUND

• Walcott does the trick for England

• Walcott ready for life in spotlight

• Capello rewarded for throwing caution to wind

• How the England players rated in Zagreb

Related Links

• Capello proves he's up to the job

Multimedia

• Watch the highlights of England's victory

• Graphic: Theo Walcott takes wing

• How England's incredible win unfolded

Croatia were down to ten men when three of England’s goals were scored, but do not let that fool you. The home team’s numbers were reduced only because of their brutality in attempting to control the stars of the show. Josip Simunic should have received a red card for an assault on Walcott, could have been sent off for two yellow cards after following up one booking with another foul on Rooney, and Robert Kovac was dismissed for a mugging that left Joe Cole needing ten stitches in a head wound, bleeding, confused and unable to walk in a straight line, let alone play.

In doing this, the friends Croatia had made in the previous qualification campaign, thanks to the engaging personality of Slaven Bilic, the coach, the beauty of Luka Modric’s midfield invention and the spirit, skill and work ethic of the team, were lost. It is one thing to have pride and fight - indeed, they are among Croatia’s most admirable qualities - but the wanton assaults on England players that took place as the match slipped beyond the home team were a disgrace. The sole consolation was that Cole having left the field bloodied and semiconscious after an elbow from Kovac, his England teammates made sure the remaining opponents received an equally painful, but legitimate, retribution.

If this was a triumph for the players, it was nothing less for Capello, whose judgment calls on squad and team selection were vindicated in a way that will buy him months, possibly years, of goodwill within the camp and without. Heskey had an outstanding game, so the absence of Owen was not an issue, and Capello’s preference for Walcott over the ageing legs of David Beckham was a masterstroke. Many would have had Beckham out of the starting lineup, but few thought Walcott ready for a match as big as this, certainly not in the same team as Rooney and Joe Cole. It looked so cavalier for such a pragmatic manager.

By the end, all doubts were dispelled. Walcott was the difference. Not only with his goals, but the way he revitalised the team, his pace drawing inspirational levels of energy from his colleagues, who suddenly appeared half a yard faster. Rooney was outstanding, his best performance in an England shirt since the European Championship finals in 2004 and one that reminded of his potential, as a provider and a goalscorer. Rooney scored one and was involved in the other three, although, as is so often the case with milestone sporting moments, everything turned on a tiny bit of luck.

For once it went England’s way, in the 26th minute when Rio Ferdinand brought the ball a long way out from the back and laid it off to Rooney. He sought Walcott with a pass, which was intercepted by Danijel Pranjic and battered against Robert Kovac. And at that point fate intervened. Instead of ricocheting out of play, or to a Croatia player, or into space, the ball diverted to Walcott, who was in an extraordinarily advantageous position. Supporting the counter-argument that a footballer makes his own luck, however, was the finish, smart and low and leaving Stipe Pletikosa, the goalkeeper, no chance. England were on their way. The future had begun.

By the time Walcott scored his second, Croatia were down to ten men, but that merely underlines the uniqueness of this instant. England teams do not take advantage in such situations. English players stutter and panic when playing 11 against ten and never make use of the spare man to kill the game, as happens on the Continent. But these guys did. It was a beautiful move, intelligent and efficient: Lampard in to Rooney, Rooney on to Heskey, Heskey back to Rooney and then out to Walcott, spare, at the far edge of the area, because Croatia had run out of men. He was too full of confidence to miss. For Arsenal it would have been a contender for goal of the season, for England make that several seasons.

Rooney gained his reward in the 84th minute with his first goal for Capello. Ashley Cole collected the ball on the left, Jermaine Jenas, the substitute for Joe Cole, cut it back and Rooney finished like a striker. Hallelujah. It felt good to see that player in an England shirt again and one can only hope that this performance inspires more of this nature. Remember, if his fire can be rekindled, England have a player who was unstoppable four years ago.

Much as Walcott was last night and after Mario Mandzukic, a Croatia substitute, had pulled a goal back for the home team, the luminaries of the occasion combined to go out with a flash. It was Rooney’s pass that set Walcott clear, but at the point of his accomplished finish it felt as if the boy became a man. Walcott drew Pletikosa, then slipped the ball neatly beneath him with an aplomb that rivalled a youthful Owen. It was a stunning finale to a remarkable night. When England return to Wembley next month, the booed boys will do so as heroes. Who would have thought it?