It was his second hat-trick for England, having famously scored three against Germany in September 2001, and took his total to 32 goals.

It all started in the 36th minute, when he scored to go level fourth in the all-time goalscoring list with Alan Shearer, Nat Lofthouse and Sir Tom Finney.

And seven minutes later he scored again to go ahead of that trio, with only Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves ahead of him before he completed his hat-trick on 58 minutes to show why he is one of the world's top strikers.

Owen's goals capped a fine display by a youthful Three Lions side, in which the rookie pairing of Glen Johnson and Zat Knight in the heart of defence coped well with the threat of Luis Rey and Aston Villa's Juan Pablo Angel.

And in attack, England always looked dangerous. Johnson put Joe Cole through in the second minute, but the Chelsea man curled his shot over the bar after cutting inside his marker.

Cole had two more efforts charged down, but then set up Owen for the opening goal. Taking a pass from Johnson, the Chelsea midfielder danced across the edge of the penalty area before slipping the ball in for Owen to run on and lift it over Farid Mondragon from ten yards.

Colombia protested that he was offside, but replays showed he was level with the last defender.

Seven minutes later it was Peter Crouch's quick-thinking that set up Owen. David Beckham, back as captain, was nudged by John Restrepo and Crouch took an instant free-kick, rolling the ball into the path of Owen, who slid it under Mondragon.

Colombia had gone close with two shots and two headers from Rey, and broke through a minute before half-time. John Viafara had an angled drive tipped over by James, and from the resulting corner, Mario Yepes headed the ball down passing the keeper and Ashley Cole at the far post.

At half-time Robert Green replaced James in goal to become the fifth player on this tour to make his England debut, and he was called into action with a fine save in the 55th minute from a Jair Benitez free-kick.

Three minutes later, Owen completed his hat-trick with a close-range finish from a superb cross whipped in from the right wing by Beckham.

Green made another fine save to keep out a header from Luis Perea before Owen, Beckham and Crouch went off to standing ovations from the thousands of England supporters in a crowd of 58,000.

Colombia scored their second goal in the 79th minute when a deft chip into the box fell at the feet of Aldo Leao Ramirez, who shot home from close range.

The Norwich stopper had to be at his best to save again from Rey in the final minutes to ensure a victory for England and end this mini tour with a 100 per cent record.

Team Details

England: James (Green, 46), G Johnson, Neville, Knight, A Cole, Beckham (Richardson, 73), Jenas, Carrick, J Cole (Young, 86), Crouch (Defoe, 72), Owen (Smith, 73).
Subs not used: Carson, Campbell, Brown, A Johnson.

Colombia: Mondragon, Benitez, Palacio (Diaz, 72), Yepes (Mendoza, 80), Restrepo (A Ramirez, 72), Viafara (Anchico, 59), Soto, Rey, Hurtado (Vargas, 46), Angel (Edixon Perea, 59), Luis Amaranto Perea.
Subs not used: Calero, Cordoba, Juan Ramirez.

Att: 58,000

Ref: Bryan Hall (USA).