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Rediff.com  » Sports » Defoe brace carries England to victory

Defoe brace carries England to victory

June 02, 2008 09:49 IST
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Jermain Defoe scored twice to lift England to a 3-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago in a one-sided friendly in sultry conditions on a bone-hard pitch on Sunday.

The game was played to mark the centenary of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation and doubled as an attempt to win the support of CONCACAF chairman and FIFA vice president Jack Warner for England's 2018 World Cup bid.

England coach Fabio Capello, in his last game of the season, took the opportunity to look at several fringe players but would have learned little from their stroll against a team ranked 88th in the world.

"I think we played a good game and all the players showed good attitude and good concentration," Capello told reporters. "We vowed to play all the game with good concentration. Every game for me is important. It is important to win games not just have training.

"It was not easy to play here. It is very warm and difficult weather."

The match was over as a contest after 15 minutes as England opened up a 2-0 lead.

Midfielder Gareth Barry scored his first international goal with a close-range volley from Wayne Bridge's cross after a clever pass from Stewart Downing in the 12th minute.

LOW FINISH

Defoe got the second when he ran on to a Dean Ashton through ball to score with a low finish.

The Portsmouth striker got his second four minutes into the second half from close range after a deep cross by David Bentley was inadvertently nodded into his path by a defender under pressure from Peter Crouch.

The local fans had precious little to get excited about but did raise a cheer when their most famous soccer export, former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke. The 36-year-old came on for the last 20 minutes having come out of international retirement for the second time in a one-off appearance.

"It was comfortable but I think we made it like that," England captain David Beckham told the BBC. "We started well, we pressed them hard in the first 20 minutes. The manager was telling us all week to take it seriously and put in a performance.

"Teams around the world all want to beat England so it was important to put on a good performance and we did, we played some good football," said Beckham, who added that he was surprised to be named captain on his 102nd appearance.

"It's a very serious camp, a very motivated camp and we all realise that whether we have experienced players or young players we have to be a team and be one.

"We are looking forward to getting the (World Cup) qualifiers started, that's the big thing now."

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Source: REUTERS
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