International Friendly Review:Peter Crouch stepped up his claims for a World Cup starting spot with two goals as England came from behind to defeat Egypt 3-1 at Wembley. Scotland recorded a win over the Czech Republic but Northern Ireland and Wales both lost.
Crouch took his goal tally for his country to 20 in 37 games after replacing Spurs team-mate Jermaine Defoe at half-time when England trailed to Mohamed Zidan's opener.
Shaun Wright-Phillips also hit the target as England recovered from a poor first-half performance to run out comfortable winners.
Crouch hopes he has given coach Fabio Capello enough food for thought to secure a spot on the plane to South Africa after tonight’s performance.
“Anyone who plays for England is going to feel under pressure, certainly in a World Cup year,” said Crouch after the game.
“You can only try to do your best and I did. It’s up to the manager. All you’ve got to do when given your chance is try and take it and I’ve given the manager something to think about tonight.”
Much of the talk before the match was about deposed captain John Terry and he was greeted with a considerable proportion of boos from the 75,000 plus crowd.
when his name was announced prior to kick-off and also when he had his first touch of the ball inside the first 30 seconds.
Steven Gerrard praised the way the Chelsea defender dealt with matters.
“I thought he was superb, thought he handled everything really well,” said Gerrard. “He showed he’s a fantastic player and a great leader.”
Gerrard also praised Egypt. “You’ve got to give credit to them, they played very well in the first half. We never converted chances we had. So I think we were unfortunate to come in 1-0 down.
“But we showed good character and togetherness to get back in it and go on to win it.
“We were a bit individual in the first half. But we pressed lot more in the second.”
A goal from Ervin Skela after 25 minutes condemned Northern Ireland to defeat in their friendly against Albania in Tirana.
It means their poor record on the road continues with only three victories achieved in 22 internationals.
On a dreadful pitch Northern Ireland improved in the second half and Stephen Craigan twice saw efforts come back off the woodwork.
Kris Boyd ended his self-imposed international exile but it was Scott Brown who was the unlikely goal hero as Craig Levein claimed a 1-0 win from his first game in charge as Scotland manager.
Brown grabbed the only goal of the game against Czech Republic to hand the Scots their first friendly win at Hampden since victory over Australia back in 1996.
This match may not have been pretty to watch at times but handed the nation a much-needed boost ahead of the forthcoming European Championship qualifiers, where Scotland will again meet Michal Bilek's men.
Bolton striker Johan Elmander stunned Wales with a brilliant winner for Sweden (1-0) in Swansea.
Elmander, who has scored just twice in the Premier League this season, showed quality rarely seen at the Reebok Stadium with a fine strike on the stroke of half time.
Ola Toivonen had earlier had a header ruled out for offside but a youthful Wales side battled hard in the second half and substitute Robert Earnshaw twice went close.
Tonight’s Results
Friendly Internationals
Albania 1-0 Northern Ireland
Algeria 0-3 Serbia
Angola 1-1 Latvia
Armenia 1-3 Belarus
Austria 2-1 Denmark
Belgium 0-1 Croatia
Bosnia 2-1 Ghana
Cyprus 0-0 Iceland
England 3-1 Egypt
France 0-2 Spain
FYR Macedonia 2-1 Montenegro
Georgia 2-1 Estonia
Germany 0-1 Argentina
Greece 0-2 Senegal
Hungary 1-1 Russia
Italy 0-0 Cameroon
Ivory Coast 0-2 South Korea
Luxembourg 1-2 Azerbaijan
Malta 1-2 Finland
Moldova 1-0 Kazakhstan
Netherlands 2-1 USA
Nigeria 5-2 Congo DR
Poland 2-0 Bulgaria
Portugal 1-0 China PR (L)
Romania 0-2 Israel
Scotland 1-0 Czech Republic
Slovakia 0-1 Norway
Slovenia 4-1 Qatar
South Africa 1-1 Namibia
Switzerland 1-3 Uruguay
Turkey 2-0 Honduras
Venezuela v Panama 11:55
Wales 0-1 Sweden
European Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Group Two
Republic of Ireland U21 1 Armenia U21 2
Group Nine
England U21 1 Greece U21 2