King 17         Franco 45 + 2

                                                                                                                  Crouch 34

                                                                                                                  Johnson 47

England won their final home game before the World Cup finals but it wasn’t quite the expected send-off, as they were matched by the Mexicans for long periods. However, they emerged victorious and injury-free, both positives for manager Fabio Capello.

Despite worries about the Wembley pitch, Mexico provided the concerns, and were unlucky to be behind at half-time. England went ahead on 17 minutes with their first goal threat, Ledley King heading home Peter Crouch’s nod-back from a deep Steven Gerrard corner.

In between, Green made two fine saves from Carlos Vela and Carlos Salcido struck the post with a fine curling effort from 20 yards. And the Mexicans deservedly scored in first-half stoppage time, Guillermo Franco bundling the ball in after Leighton Baines cleared Rafael Marquez’s header off the line.

England’s classiest moment of the night, two minutes after half-time, also ended the game as a contest. Right-back Glen Johnson carried the ball past three defenders and curled an exquisite left-foot shot into the top corner.