England cruised to a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago with Gareth Barry and Jermain Defoe grabbing the goals.
Defoe and Barry on target
England cruised to a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, with Jermain Defoe scoring twice and Gareth Barry also finding the net in Port of Spain.
Coach Fabio Capello named his strongest side and they were in control from the off with Barry volleying home after just 12 minutes.
Moments later it was two as Defoe poked the ball home and he doubled his tally just minutes into the second-half to wrap up the win.
Capello made a host of changes after the break with Joe Hart, Phil Jagielka and Stephen Warnock all joining Dean Ashton - who started the match - in making their England debuts.
As many predicted Capello started with his most experienced players with the exception of Ashton up-front - who partnered Defoe.
The opening exchanges saw England dominate possession and they almost went ahead on six minutes when Defoe was just inches away from connecting with a David Beckham cross and heading the visitors in-front.
England looked particularly dangerous down the left with Wayne Bridge and Stewart Downing seeing plenty of the ball and it was that combination that opened up Trinidad and Tobago.
A nice exchange of passes saw Downing collect on the left, he then chipped a sublime ball into the box for Bridge to race onto and he crossed for Barry to volley home from close-range.
Just minutes later and it was two, as Defoe fired home. Again Downing was involved as he played a defence splitting ball through for the Portsmouth striker - who broke the offside trap - and toe-poked the ball past the helpless Clayton Ince.
By this time, the home side had also seen leading striker Kenwyne Jones stretched off with suspected knee-ligament damage and they rarely threatened without the Sunderland striker.
Defoe, Ashton and Downing all had decent chances before the break - but none could seriously test Ince the home side began to defend in increasing numbers.
Bright start
The second period began in much the same manner as the first with Defoe grabbing his second.
Hart, Jagielka, Peter Crouch and David Bentley had all been brought on at the break and the latter two combined to create the chance for Defoe.
Bentley got down the right and crossed for Crouch - the ball dropped and came for Defoe to side foot home with ease from eight yards.
Defoe will have been pleased with his two goals but he should have claimed his hat-tick before the hour when Steven Gerrard dummied a Crouch pass to set him clear in the box - but he could only poke his shot wide with only Ince to beat.
Ashley Young and Theo Walcott were soon introduced to the action and both had their chances to make an impact.
Young tested Ince with a nice effort from the edge of the box but Walcott should have opened his senior account when he capitalised on a Denis Lawrence mistake to break clear but he could not beat the veteran T&T keeper - who also got up to deny Crouch from the rebound.
The final chance of the evening fell for the home side when captain Aurtis Whitley fired over from just inside the box.
| Trinidad & Tobago |
Team Statistics |
England |
| 0 |
Goals |
3 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
10 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
11 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 4 |
Corners |
5 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
17 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
7 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 83.7 |
Passing Success |
87.6 |
| 15 |
Tackles |
12 |
| 73.3 |
Tackles Success |
58.3 |
| 47.7 |
Possession |
52.3 |
| 42.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
57.1 |
|
