-
Peter Crouch of England - Source: Reuters -
Related
England began their World Cup build-up with a 3-1 victory over
Egypt at Wembley Stadium on Thursday despite being outplayed by the
African champions in the opening half.
Two goals from substitute Peter Crouch after 56 and 80 minutes and
one by fellow substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips after 75 helped
England rally from 1-0 down.
"Anyone who plays for England, certainly in a World Cup year, is
going to feel some pressure," Crouch told ITV.
"All I can do is, when given a chance, try and take it and
hopefully I've given the manager something to think about
tonight."
Egypt dazzled the 80,000 crowd with a superb display of attacking
soccer in the first half, capped by a fine goal from Mohamed Zidan
who half-volleyed home from the edge of the box after 23
minutes.
England responded after the break with beanpole striker Crouch
side-footing home twice from crosses from the right although he
looked marginally offside for his second goal.
Wright-Phillips took his goal well, chesting the ball down and
firing home a rebound after goalkeeper Essam El Hadary parried a
James Milner effort.
The friendly was the first at Wembley since media reports about
John Terry's private life forced manager Fabio Capello to strip him
of the England captaincy.
Fears that Terry would be booed every time he touched the ball were
unfounded after the first few minutes. The defender grew in stature
as the game went on and did not put a foot wrong in the second
half.
"I really thank the crowd for supporting him," said Capello. "It
was a very important game for him after what happened to him off
the pitch and he had a fantastic game.
"He is very important to us but I knew that when I made him captain
in the first place."
Early Test
Capello used the match as a warm-up before England face Egypt's
World Cup conquerors Algeria in South Africa in June and his
players were tested early on.
It was no surprise when Egypt went ahead as Matthew Upson,
deputising for injured skipper Rio Ferdinand, slipped while trying
to intercept a long forward pass.
That gave Zidan time to cushion the ball with his right foot before
shooting wide of keeper Robert Green.
England, though, were better after the break with Michael Carrick
injecting some urgency into midfield after replacing Frank Lampard
and with captain Steven Gerrard moving into his favoured position
in the centre of midfield.
They deserved their equaliser when Gareth Barry crossed for Crouch
to score.
Crouch then collected his 20th goal in his 37th international when
he converted a cross from Wright-Phillips.
Capello said: "Peter Crouch is a big option for me because
sometimes you can play long ball. Today we didn't play long ball
and he played very well, one-touch, two-touch. Second half he made
the difference."
England have two more warm-up games against Mexico and Japan before
leaving for the World Cup where they face United States, Algeria
and Slovenia.
