England 2 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

By Matt Jackson (WebWiseWords)

England are not renowned for scoring late winners, in fact they haven't scored in the second half of a World Cup match since 1998 but it's been even longer since they have managed to win their first two group games and qualify with a game to spare. Today's earlier result and this one mean that England will now definitely face either Germany or Ecuador in the next round. England could potentially top their group if the result goes the right way between Sweden and Paraguay later today.

In all fairness to Trinidad & Tobago they once again put in a thoroughly determined and exceptionally well augmented display. Dwight Yorke again provided pace and determination from the center of the park but the injection of pace and the lift that second half substitutions gave England eventually proved to be too much.

The first half saw England battling away but to little avail. Both strikers, Owen and Lampard were guilty of missing good chances and so too was Lampard. In fact, by the end of the match and on any other day Lampard would have scored twice. Statistics will show that England had an incredible two thirds of the possession but the Trinidad & Tobago unit was operating just as well as they did when winning a well fought point against Sweden.

The second half appeared to be going in a similar fruitless direction until the introduction of substitutes Aaron Lennon, Stuart Downing and the irresistible Wayne Rooney making an early comeback. In all honesty, Rooney did very little except gain much needed match fitness and it was Aaron Lennon in only his second bit part game for England that really made an impact. Every time he attacked the defense down the right wing he seemed to get through. This spurred England on to have numerous chances in the closing twenty-five minutes of the match.

Once again, David Beckham was the provider as he placed a perfect cross into the box to be met by the head of Peter Crouch, who until that point had had a distinctly average match. A couple of tense moments followed but Trinidad & Tobago still failed to really threaten the England goal. In the 90th minute, Steven Gerrard latched on to a Frank Lampard free quick and buried an exceptional shot to make it 2-0.

John Terry was the man of the match for England having put in a truly battling display in the heart of defense. A goal line clearance in the last minute of the first half was the epitome of this superb display by a man who has helped England keep clean sheets in both matches so far.

Not the most convincing display by England, who have been guilty of providing two of the least entertaining team displays so far this tournament, but they got the job done and guaranteed a place in the second round giving them chance to play Rooney back a little closer to match fitness and possibly give a few other players a chance to show their talents.

Matt Jackson is copywriter and freelance writer for WebWiseWords. For more information visit their site at www.webwisewords.com or email info@webwisewords.com.