Football - International Friendly – England 3 Mexico 1

Published: 25 May 2010
by JOHN EVANS

King 17, Crouch 34, Glen Johnson 47
Franco 45+3
Monday May 24
Wembley Stadium
Attendance 88,638

THERE was a festival mood for the 88,638 crowd at Wembley, sporting free red and white T-shirts aiming to form the world's largest ever St George's Cross ahead of kick-off..

But if the fact that these were manufactured in Morocco only sunk home later, the message was clear for the players: "We're with you all the way". 

It was a fitting send-off ahead of the team's first game of the 2010 World Cup against the USA on June 12.

Yet despite seeing his side run out 3-1 winners in this friendly warm-up against opponents who will also feature in the tournament in South Africa, manager Fabio Capello will still know there are questions to be answered following this performance.

After the match, in which he used the maximum number of substitutes, he said: "It was really important to know where we are now, physically and the mentality after a long season. We have time to recover a lot of the spirit of the team, spirit of the group and also the quality that we have."

England took the lead on 17 minutes  when the Spurs duo of Peter Crouch and Ledley King both used their heads to put away a corner from the left. King, who had looked steady if slow in defence, popped up to score after Crouch had knocked back the ball from Steven Gerrard.

By the end of the first quarter, with both sides due to travel to South Africa in such a short while, it was clear that the poor pitch and the desire of both sides to avoid injuries had taken the edge off the tackling. And a team of about 15 ground staff were out repairing the surface at the break.

With the Mexicans’ precision and work rate, there were good chances at both ends, but it was Crouch who benefited from slick work from Gerrard and James Milner from a short corner to put the home side 2-0 up on 34 minutes. An unmarked Wayne Rooney brought a good save from Mexico keeper Oscar Perez, but Crouch managed to bundle the ball home off the crossbar.

West Ham's Guillermo Franco beat his club-mate Robert Green in England's goal on the stroke of half time when he snapped up a sharp chance following Leighton Baines's attempt at a goal-line clearance. 

Green, though, had impressed with two point-blank saves earlier.

Capello brought on Joe Hart, Jermain Defoe and Jamie Carragher for Green, Crouch and Rio Ferdinand, but it was Glen Johnson, later named man of the match, who beat the defence with a crossfield run and put a cultured shot beyond a despairing Perez to seal the win just after the restart.

Adam Johnson was given his chance on 85 minutes, replacing Milner, who had taken a couple of knocks on an ankle. 

England head back to  their Austrian training camp ahead of a match against Japan in Graz on Sunday, May 30. On June 1 Capello is due to name his final squad of 23 to fly out to South Africa two days later.

England: Green (Hart 46), G Johnson, Baines, Gerrard, Ferdinand (Carragher 46), King, Walcott (Lennon 77), Carrick (Huddlestone 62), Crouch (Defoe 46), Rooney, Milner (A Johnson 85)

Mexico: Perez, Juarez, Aguilar (Barrera 52), Marquez, Salcido, Rodriguez, Torrado, Osorio, Dos Santos (Blanco 71), Franco (Hernandez 46), Vela (Guardado 62)

Yellow cards: Barrera 66, Dos Santos 68, Rodriguez 90

Referee: Toma Masaaki (Japan)