Substitutes give England 3-1 win against Egypt

Posted Thursday, March 04, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

WEMBLEY, England (AP)—England needed second-half goals by substitutes Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips to beat African champion Egypt 3-1 at Wembley on Wednesday.

Mohamed Zidan put the visitors ahead in the 23rd minute following a mistake by defender Matthew Upson and England was jeered off at halftime.

But the home side improved with the introduction of Crouch and Michael Carrick for the second period and Crouch made it 1-1 with a shot at the near post from Gareth Barry’s right-wing cross.

Wright-Phillips scored from a rebound in the 74th and Crouch got his second goal from Wright-Phillips’ cross five minutes later.

The Football Association arranged the friendly to give England experience of playing a north African side ahead of a World Cup meeting with Algeria.

The England players will now know not to treat that match lightly after Egypt was the quicker and more accurate passing side for almost all of the first half.

They will also know not to expect sympathy from neutral officials at the June 11-July 11 World Cup in South Africa after the Paraguayan referee requested by coach Fabio Capello regularly turned down their appeals for free kicks.

But England did show it can change tactics and tempo if things are not working, as in the first half when Wayne Rooney was forced to drop deep in search of possession, the midfield looked sluggish and the strikers were isolated.

Carrick protected a central defense shaky in the absence of injured captain Rio Ferdinand, while Wright-Phillips came on in the 57th for Theo Walcott and provided the width that Gerrard had been unable to supply.

Crouch linked well with Rooney and earned the man of the match award for taking his international tally to 20 goals in 37 appearances.

His first goal came 11 minute after his introduction with a neat finish off a move initiated by Gerrard’s pass to the advancing Barry. The Tottenham striker set up Gerrard for a chance with a flick off his instep and tried to score with an acrobatic overhead kick before getting his second goal, also at the near post, from Wright-Phillips’ driven cross.

Walcott was arguably England’s brightest midfielder in the first half but Wright-Phillips was more direct and got his goal after goalkeeper Essam El Hadary parried James Milner’s initial shot. Wright-Phillips hit the ball back in from the edge of the area and El Hadary only parried the Manchester City winger’s drive into his own net.

But concerns remain over England’s defense. John Terry looked reasonably secure despite being jeered by his own fans during the team announcements, following revelations about his private life, but Upson’s slip allowed Zidan to put Egypt ahead.

Upson fell over and allowed a speculative long pass to reach the Borussia Dortmund forward, who took one touch to steady himself on the edge of the area and another to shoot past goalkeeper Robert Green.

England: Robert Green, Wes Brown, Matthew Upson, John Terry, Leighton Baines, Theo Walcott (Shaun Wright-Phillips, 57), Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard (Michael Carrick, 46), Steven Gerrard (James Milner, 73), Jermain Defoe (Peter Crouch, 46), Wayne Rooney (Carlton Cole, 86).

Egypt: Essam El Hadary, Ahmed Al Muhamadi, Hani Said (Moatasem Salem, 86), Ahmed Fathi, Wael Gomaa, Hossam Ghaly, Sayed Moawad (Mohamed Abdel Shafy, 76), Ahmed Hassan (Mohamed Gedo, 64), Hosni Abd Rabbou, Mohamed Zidan (Mohamed Aboutrika, 76), Ahmed Abdelghani (Amr Zaki, 64).