Home comforts for England

	2 June 2008
	VIDEO: England v USA - pitchside highlights
	See highlights from Wednesday's game with the USA at Wembley from pitchside level.

John Terry and Steven Gerrard scored a goal in either half to cap a solid England performance as Fabio Capello’s men eased past USA.

Though the result always looked likely, it wasn’t until the captain’s well-placed header just before half-time broke the deadlock, and from then on it was a question of how many.

Gerrard then added a second after an hour, finishing off a wonderful England move, to complete the victory. But the Three Lions could have had more.

Their forward line of Defoe and Wayne Rooney, with support from Gerrard, stated their intent early on. The front pair were linking up well and were unlucky not to at least have had a chance each. The Portsmouth man rolled a nice pass through to Rooney, who was flagged for offside, then Rooney returned the favour only for Heath Pearce to snuff out the pass.

Meanwhile, a little deeper, Gerrard and Beckham were enjoying an understanding that saw them both finish with strikes at goal, but as Beckham sliced over the bar, Gerrard’s side foot shot from a Beckham free-kick nestled into the corner of the net before play was pulled back.

Gerrard was also teed up for two efforts from the edge of the box, the first from Rooney following a burst down the right after a slip from Carlos Bocanegra opened up the space, but the pass was just behind the run of the Liverpool man. He dug out the shot, only to see it blocked, then moments later his strike from Beckham’s neat free-kick also struck the on-rushing defence.

The same pair were also allowed extra set-piece practice as USA conceded a host of free-kicks in dangerous areas, most notably from ex-Newcastle defender Oguchi Onyewu, but the wall was always well-placed.

However, it could do nothing about Beckham’s centre from the right with seven minutes left of the half. The kick had pace, but Terry still had a lot to do, craning his neck to powerfully head goalwards into the bottom corner of Tim Howard’s goal for his fourth for England.

Though Capello used the second half to have a look at some other figures, England continued to impose themselves on a USA side who rarely threatened. Their best chance came from the left boot for Fulham's Eddie Johnson, who screwed his effort wide of David James' post.

Defoe, who had seen a fine chance in the first half go wide of the post from a Rooney cross, was cursing the American replacement for Tim Howard, Brad Guzan. Frank Lampard slotted through to Defoe, but his shot was easily dealt with by the Chivas USA stopper.

But his best chance was one he crafted himself, controlling a high ball into the box before wriggling free from Pearce leaving him with only Guzan to beat. His shot from eight yards was good, but lacked the desired power, making life easier for the keeper.

He could do nothing about Gerrard’s goal, and the glorious move that opened it up, though.

Owen Hargreaves won back a loose ball on the halfway line and found Defoe. With his back to goal, he played a crisp pass back to Gareth Barry, on for Lampard moments earlier. The Aston Villa midfielder picked out the run of Gerrard, while the defence didn’t, and he had the time to coolly roll into the corner and seal a comfortable win.

Even the introduction of wonderkid Freddy Adu couldn't inspire USA. A solitary shot from the Benfica youngster that forced James into a token save was all he could muster. 

And while the night began with Beckham receiving his commemorative 100th cap from Sir Bobby Charlton, it also featured a late cameo role for Joe Cole who reached his half-century.

England
1 David James, 2 Wes Brown (13 Glen Johnson, 57) 3 Ashley Cole (14 Wayne Bridge, 82), 4 Owen Hargreaves, 5 Rio Ferdinand, 6 John Terry (c), 7 David Beckham (17 David Bentley, 46) 8 Frank Lampard (21 Gareth Barry, 57) 9 Jermain Defoe (25 Peter Crouch, 68) 10 Steven Gerrard, 11 Wayne Rooney (22 Joe Cole, 78)
Substitutes not used 12 Joe Hart, 15 Stephen Warnock, 16 Jonathan Woodgate, 18 Phil Jagielka, 19 David Wheater, 20 Tom Huddlestone, 23 Stewart Downing, 24 Ashley Young, 26 Dean Ashton, 27 Theo Walcott, 28 Gabriel Agbonlahor, 29 Joe Lewis

Coach
Fabio Capello
Colours
White shirts, blue shorts, white socks

USA
1 Tim Howard (18 Brad Guzan, 46) 3 Carlos Bocanegra (c), 4 Michael Bradley, 12 Heath Pearce, 6 Steven Cherundolo (27 Frankie Hejduk, 46) 7 DaMarcus Beasley (11 Eddie Lewis, 68) 8 Clint Dempsey, 9 Eddie Johnson (14 Nate Jaqua, 89) 13 Ricardo Clark, 16 Josh Wolff (19 Freddy Adu, 68) 22 Oguchi Onyewu
Substitutes not used 2 Danny Califf, 26 Mo Edu.

Coach: Bob Bradley
Colours: Grey shirts, white shorts, grey socks 

Referee: Kyros Vassaras (Greece)
Assistant Referees: Dimitrios Bozaizides & Dimitrios Saraidaris (both Greece)
Fourth Official: Peter Walton (England)

Attendance: 71,233