England 2-0 USA: Tears transform to cheers for Terry

ENGLAND 2
Terry (38)
Gerrard (59)
USA 0

SEVEN days too late for Chelsea's liking, John Terry was presented with an opportunity to score and duly obliged.

There were no tears at Wembley last night but in putting England on the road to beating the United States at Wembley, Terry exorcised a few demons created by his shoot-out miss that cost victory for the Londoners in the match that so crushingly ended in defeat to Manchester United.

And the warm celebrations that followed ensure that while the tough-tackling defender may spend a summer in purgatory, personally tormented by the moment that will scar his career, he need have no fear of the reaction which awaits him next season.

There could have been no more fitting scorer in a game which marks the halfway point of Fabio Capello's five-match run of friendlies prior to England's opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona on 6 September.

Steven Gerrard added a second, in a very impressive introduction to the left-wing role, to leave the rump of Capello's squad heading off for a goodwill meeting with Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday in a contented mood, and the Italian believing improvement is being maintained.

Capello was full of praise for his skipper. "It made me happy, he is a good captain and it was a good performance," he said. "I'm very happy because I saw from him on the pitch what I asked for before the game. John Terry is always John Terry, in good moments and bad. He has good charisma for other players, he is a natural leader.

"Gerrard, Rooney, Hargreaves, all of the players played very well. It is a step. You have to move on every game."

Former captain David Beckham, who won his 101st cap, said Terry's impressive return after the disappointment of missing the penalty in Moscow last week was expected by his team-mates.

"We're not surprised by that as players because he's done it before, he does it every time he wears the shirt," Beckham said. "He's disappointed by last week and still going through that but on the pitch, you see the man and the player he is.

"He's going to be hurting but he's got character, one of the strongest I've seen in football. He'll get over it but he will be hurting for a while.

"Tonight he tackled, headed every ball and scored the goal and I think every one of us was happy when he scored. I think he deserved that tonight."

Terry gave England a deserved lead against a moderate American side, who included Rangers winger DaMarcus Beasley from the start, seven minutes before the interval when he leapt powerfully to direct Beckham's fine free-kick delivery low past the despairing left hand of Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Beckham's departure at half-time offered David Bentley some valuable time on the pitch, although clearly it is going to take a long time for the boo-boys in the stands to forget his decision to abandon the England Under-21 squad prior to last summer's European Championships.

Gareth Barry's arrival was equally noticeable as he immediately threaded Jermain Defoe's lay-off through a tiring USA defence for Gerrard, who played the full 90 minutes in a left-sided role, to calmly slot home the second just before the hour mark.

England: James; Brown (G Johnson 57), Ferdinand, John Terry, A Cole (Bridge 82); Beckham (Bentley 46), Hargreaves, Lampard (Barry 57), Steven Gerrard; Defoe (Crouch 68), Rooney (J Cole 78). Subs not used: Hart, Lewis, Warnock, Woodgate, Jagielka, Wheater, Huddlestone, Downing, Young, Ashton, Walcott, Agbonlahor.

USA: Howard (Guzan 46); Cherundolo (Hejduk 46), Onyewu, Bocanegra, Pearce; Dempsey, Clark (M Edu 78), Bradley, Beasley (Lewis 68); Johnson (Jaqua 89), Wolff (F Adu 68). Sub not used: Califf.