Defoe's two goals put England on their way to a
comfortable win
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England were comfortable winners in their
friendly in Trinidad & Tobago.
Gareth Barry put England ahead on 12 minutes when he volleyed
home following good work by Stewart Downing and Wayne Bridge
down the left.
Four minutes later Downing laid on the second for Jermain
Defoe, who tucked the ball past goalkeeper Clayton Ince.
Defoe got his second from a David Bentley cross just after
half-time but the Portsmouth striker later missed a chance to
claim his hat-trick.
It was a second routine win in five days for England coach
Fabio Capello, who will have been pleased with a professional
performance from his side on a difficult pitch and in unusual
conditions.
England's professionalism pleased Capello
Some criticised the decision to fly thousands of miles for a
friendly against opposition of questionable qualities at this
stage of the season.
But Capello was able to get a good look at plenty of his
fringe players in what turned out to be a relatively competitive
environment at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Trinidad & Tobago had talked about gaining some revenge for
the defeat in their World Cup meeting two years ago.
But any chance of an upset in a game arranged to mark the
centenary of football in Trinidad & Tobago lasted just over
quarter of an hour.
The home side had already lost star striker Kenwyne Jones of
Sunderland to a knee ligament injury when they fell behind after
12 minutes.
Downing sent Bridge clear down the left and he picked out
Barry, who steered the ball past Ince with his left foot from
inside the area.
The second came four minutes later with Middlesbrough's
Downing sending Defoe clean through on goal and he kept his head
to tuck home his first goal for England since September 2006.
It looked like England could threaten a cricket score on the
Caribbean island but the Soca Warriors enjoyed their best spell
of the game.
They caused some nervous moments at the back, with the pace
and skill of Sunderland's Carlos Edwards and the bulk of
Southampton striker Stern John making sure this would be no
holiday for the England defence.
Beckham was surprised to captain the side
Edwards was involved in their best move of the match, setting
up Darryl Roberts after some good work from Khaleem Hyland down
the left, but Roberts' shot was easily held by David James.
Defoe and Dean Ashton missed chances to add to the scoreline
before the half-time interval signalled the start of a glut of
changes.
One of the new additions was Bentley, who took over from
England's stand-in skipper David Beckham to set up the third
goal.
The Blackburn star sent in a right-wing cross which T&T could
not clear and Defoe was handed the simple task of volleying past
Ince.
Defoe should have scored his first international hat-trick
only to miscue wide but then combined brilliantly with his
second-half strike partner Peter Crouch for one of the best
passing moves of the game, but the Liverpool striker was denied
by a sprawling Ince.
A noisy home crowd of 25,001 got their wish when their
favourite Dwight Yorke was handed a 15-minute run out.
He was unable to mark his brief return from international
retirement with a goal but it was still smiles all round for the
home nation, and for Capello for a job well done.
England's players will now head off on holiday after a long
season, although they will wish it was not all over with Euro
2008 kicking off in less than a week.
Trinidad and Tobago: Ince, Cupid, Lawrence, Hislop,
Farrier, Carlos Edwards, Hyland, Whitley, Daniel, John, Jones,
Roberts. Subs: Phillip, Roberts, Telesford, Smith, Adams,
Guerra, Tinto, Yorke, Forbes, Connell.
England: James, Johnson, Ferdinand, Woodgate, Bridge,
Beckham, Barry, Gerrard, Downing, Ashton, Defoe. Subs: Hart,
Lewis, Warnock, Wheater, Jagielka, Bentley, Young, Huddlestone,
Crouch, Walcott, Agbonlahor. |