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| June 1, 2006 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1427 |
Morale-boosting win for England
MANCHESTER, May 31: England ground out a 3-1 victory over Hungary in a World Cup warm-up on Tuesday, with teenage striker Theo Walcott making history for the hosts.
Early second-half headers from Steven Gerrard and John Terry put England in front after Frank Lampard's penalty was saved in the closing stages of the first period at Old Trafford.
Hungary captain Pal Dardai pulled a goal back with a superb 25-metre shot in the 55th minute before substitute Peter Crouch rifled home England's third in the 83rd.
It was a special night for Walcott, who came on as a second-half substitute to become England's youngest player at 17 years and 75 days.
Striker Wayne Rooney, whose foot injury sent shockwaves through England's World Cup preparations, set the previous record at 17 years and 111 days.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson used the match to try out midfielder Gerrard in an advanced role behind striker Michael Owen, as a possible replacement for Rooney.
Gerrard's usual position went to central defender Jamie Carragher, pushed forward into a holding midfield role in the evening's other experiment.
Rooney's hopes of going to the World Cup hinge on a scan he will undergo on his broken right foot on June 7. Under FIFA rules, Eriksson can replace him in the squad up to 24 hours before the opening game against Paraguay on June 10.
Gerrard was pushed into Rooney's role because of his goal sense, underlined by his two strikes in Liverpool's FA Cup final triumph over West Ham United earlier this month.
It was not an instant success.
England lacked penetration against well-organised opponents in a dour opening half which only burst into life in the closing minutes.
Owen, short of match fitness after a long-term injury, missed a close-range header from a superb cross from the right by captain David Beckham.
Gerrard then won a dubious penalty after a rash challenge by defender Csaba Feher but Lampard's poor spot-kick was parried by goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and Owen's follow-up header hit the bar.
There was still time for England to strike the woodwork again when Joe Cole's glancing header from a Beckham cross struck the post and was cleared by Laszlo Eger.
It looked as if it was not going to be Eriksson's night until his men made a dream start to the second half.
Gerrard nodded in a good cross from Beckham before Terry did the same from another free kick by the England captain.
Dardai pulled Hungary back into the game when a superb curling shot beat keeper Paul Robinson, while Eriksson sent on Walcott and Crouch before later replacing Terry with Sol Campbell.
Crouch, another candidate for Rooney's place, fired home on the turn after a mazy run and pass by Joe Cole.
England open their World Cup campaign in Group B against Paraguay before going on to face Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden.
In Leverkusan, hosts Germany came from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw with fellow finalists Japan.
Naohiro Takahara struck two fine goals to give Japan a 2-0 lead by the 65th minute and the visitors might have had more as Germany turned in a shocking defensive display.
Germany, who had Michael Ballack back in the side after injury, were stung into reaction by that second goal and replied when Miroslav Klose bundled in a Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick at the far post in the 76th minute.
Four minutes later, Schweinsteiger headed in a Bernd Schneider free kick to salvage a draw that will at least keep the flame of optimism flickering in the host nation.
Japan, who are in Group F with Brazil, Croatia and Australia, had Akira Kaji taken off on a stretcher in the first half. It was not immediately clear how serious the injury was.
Ballack surprisingly started on the right side of midfield. The idea was to give Tim Borowski a free role in the centre after his good display in Saturday's 7-0 win over Luxembourg but it seemed to confuse the German midfield.
Japan almost took advantage of the disarray when Atsushi Yanagisawa slipped a reverse pass to Hidetoshi Nakata, who forced goalkeeper Jens Lehmann to save with his feet.
Jens Nowotny came on to replace Christoph Metzelder at centre-back and win his first cap since Euro 2004.
Almost immediately he was caught hopelessly out of position as Japan broke from a corner, leaving Takahara to take advantage by lifting a shot into the top of the net in the 57th minute.
Eight minutes later, Takahara helped himself to a second, turning inside Ballack from the right of the area and scoring in off the par post.
Results:
Argentina 2 Angola 0
England 3 Hungary 1
Tunisia 3 Belarus 0
Germany 2 Japan 2
Chile 1 Ivory Coast 1
Czech Republic1 Costa Rica 0
Poland 1 Colombia 2
—Agencies
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