England v Mexico - as it happened

Preamble Thirty men, 23 places, and a divot with some poor patsy's name on it: welcome to Wembley World Cup roulette, a game in which the cream of England and Mexico tread as gingerly as possible on the laughable excuse for a pitch at a stadium that cost over £700m to rebuild. In among all that, there is a small chance that a game of football will break out. In it, England will look to provide evidence that this could be Their Year, when they finally lay all those ghosts to rest and actually reach a semi-final for the first time in 20 years before being well beaten by either Brazil or Spain. That said, you shouldn't read too much into a team's performance in these pre-World Cup friendlies. In 1990, six days before the tournament began, England made complete fools of themselves in Tunisia, needing a last-minute equaliser from Steve Bull to earn a draw after. Earlier in the match Terry Butcher had been substituted for the first time in his England career, having being booked for allegedly sticking the head on an opponent. In short, it was a farce. In 1966, Jimmy Greaves spanked four goals in a 6-1 win in Norway, only to spend most of the next month on the bench, realising solemnly that football wasn't always a funny old game, but sometimes a bloody miserable one. In 1998, Paul Gascoigne played in all three of England's warm-up games, only to engage Glenn Hoddle's wick once too often . And in 2006, Owen Hargreaves was booed against Hungary and England jetted off smugly to Germany on the back of a 6-0 win over Jamaica a few days later. Then they scored six goals in five games during a stunningly pedestrian campaign. Hargreaves was their player of the tournament. Many of those stories show that the importance of those fixtures lies not in the collective but in the individual. At pretty much every World Cup, England end the tournament with a markedly different side to the one that starts it - never mind the one that plays the final warm-up game. (In 1990, Sir Bobby Robson ripped up his side after that Tunisia game and then again after the opening match of the World Cup.) We thought Fabio Capello's knees wouldn't jerk in the way that those of other, weaker men do, yet his courting of the likes of Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes – one step removed from shouting "PLEASE TOUCH IT!" at people in the street – suggests even he might change his mind from time to time. In that regard, this could be a particularly important night for those who were called up to the provisional 30-man squad on the basis of excellent end-of-season form, namely Michael Dawson, Leighton Baines, Scott Parker and Adam Johnson. Capello must announce his final squad of 23 by June 1. We'll have a better idea after this game, and Sunday's match against Japan, but at this stage I reckon he will omit Dawson, Stephen Warnock, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Tom Huddlestone, Scott Parker, Joe Cole and Darren Bent. That would leave a final 23 of Wayne Rooney and 22 others. Team news Normally team news for an England friendly prompts a 'meh' if you're lucky, but Fabio Capello has made some very interesting choices here. He already said he would rest the Chelsea players, but some of the consequent selections are eye-catching. Ledley King is preferred to Matthew Upson and will make his first England appearance since 2007; that might seem an obvious choice, but it breaks the preferred system of sweeper/stopper and right-footer/left-footer. Leighton Baines is picked ahead of Stephen Warnock, while James Milner plays in Frank Lampard's deepish central-midfield position. Perhaps most surprising are two of the selections in his attacking quartet: Theo Walcott and Peter Crouch ahead of Aaron Lennon and Emile Heskey, who were both regular picks at the end of the qualification campaign. Has he run out of patience with Heskey's lack of football? I hope so because England without Heskey are a noticeably weaker team. The Lahndahn-based pair of Franco and Carlos Vela play up front for Mexico. England (4-4-2) Green; Johnson, Ferdinand, King, Baines; Walcott, Carrick, Milner, Gerrard; Crouch, Rooney. Subs: Hart, James, Carragher, Dawson, Upson, Warnock, Lennon, Parker, Huddlestone, Wright-Phillips, Adam Johnson, Heskey, Defoe. Mexico (3-4-3) Perez; Osorio, Marquez, Rodriguez; Juarez, Aguilar, Torrado, Salcido; dos Santos, Franco, Vela. Subs: Ochoa, Michel, Barrera, Castro, Blanco, Hernandez, Moreno, Guardado, Magallon, Torres, Bautista, Medina, Jonathan. Referee Masaaki Toma (Japan) Gary Naylor gets the gag in early "So after a very promising start, somewhat derailed by off-field shenanigans, after tonight's match we should know a little more about just how successful South Africa 2010 will be. But that's enough about Adrian Chiles, what about England? I stood about outside Wembley Stadium for a couple of hours yesterday evening while the 'authorities' failed to get the electricity on for the darts, so Fabio should be happy just to get a game in at all. Add that to the pitch and even Beckham has his work cut out to bring the FIFA WORLD CUP to England in 2018 or whatever year we're punting for." Chiles is wearing a suit and tie. Doesn't that compromise his man-of-the-people appeal? Then again, I suppose that was already compromised when he threw his toys out of the pram in farcical fashion a couple of months ago. I'll never forgive him for what he did to the One Show. A triumphant start to the Guardian's global World Cup coverage "Performed a word search on the Preamble and Team News: 'Mexico' is used once," whines Evan Garcia. "They're in the World Cup, you know." Would you like me to make their team up? We get our news from the news wires, on which there is not yet any mention of the Mexico team. Short of being involved in a hitherto unknown erotic relationship with the coach, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to know their team. And yes, the preamble concentrated on England. Amazing what these English websites get up to these days! It's borderline racism! Adrian Chiles cracks a dismal staged gag , breaking away from footage of Gary Lineker's equaliser against West Germany to say, "decent player him, wonder what's he up to now". Oh dear. "I'm not sure why the fact that Heskey and Lennon were regulars in qualification makes it a surprise that they're not picked here?" says Mark Gillespie. "There's no reason to assume this is any more than a chance to look at some more of the hopefuls for the squad, rather than the more established members." Except Capello doesn't normally really look at those hopefuls in friendlies – he just picks his best team. And you would think that he would want to give Heskey and Lennon as much football as possible if they were still his first choices. He doesn't seem to know his mind as well as we thought. To get you in the World Cup mood , this is more than a little bit brilliant , and so are the equivalents for earlier tournaments. 7.58pm You can't always tell on TV, but it seemed like Mexico's national anthem wasn't booed. The earth is off its axis. 1 min Mexico kick off from right to left. They are wearing this little number (thanks to Hector for the link). England are in their increasingly likeable tennis shirts. 2 min "Smyth," says Ian Copestake, "even your links are racist, as the BBC top ten World Cup goals is available only in the UK. I'd call you a cee but that would only bring you down to my level. (Er, smiley!)" 3 min Mexico are actually playing three up front, with Vela left and Dos Santos right of West Ham's Franco. It's been a really open start: first Walcott bursts past a defender, who slips, only to mess up his cross in familliar fashion. Then Mexico break sharply, and Franco's reverse-pass into the area almost finds Aguilar. 4 min "Not sure what to do tonight," says Phil Sawyer, looking at a tin of beans in one hand and a bottle of whisky in the other. "Interested in this match, but by all accounts Stephen Fry is going to be joining Sid Waddell in the commentary booth for the rescheduled darts final. Surely an epoch defining, 'where were you' moment? Not sure Adrian Chiles' ITV debut promises to be quite so enthralling." Yeah but he's got Gareth Southgate with him! 5 min A good chance for Franco. Salcido on the left played a sharp, low cross to him on the edge of the box; he rolled King beautifully without touching the ball but then, having made space for the shot, screwed it wide of the far post. Mexico look very slick. 6 min Now England have a two-on-one attack but Gerrard's pass into Rooney is hopelessly woolly and Rodriquez is able to head clear. 7 min Mexico are moving the ball around very smartly. It all goes through their excellent captain Torrado, who has been around for ages. He made his debut in 1999 and played in the 2002 World Cup. 9 min England have had a shocking start. Carrick gives the ball away to dos Santos on the halfway line with a lazy crossfield pass; he charges towards the area and then blasts a shot from 20 yards that deflects wide off Ferdinand. 10 min Another chance for Mexico. Aguilar on the right makes a yard of space and spanks a wonderful low ball across the six-yard box. Franco and dos Santos couldn't get there and it ran all the well along the area to safety. 11 min "I just had my entire childhood ruined by seeing John 'Digger' Barnes do that Mars advert before the game," says Nick Smith. "Could he not have stayed Tranmere manager?" For those who didn't see it, it's not pretty . You know you've got problems if you've had to turn to an ersatz Keith Allen. An ersatz Keith Allen! 12 min Carrick has carried on his end-of-season form. Sadly that form was utterly diabolical. He is passing like a man who has put the wrong contact lenses in. What has happened to him? 13 min Juarez clashes heads with Gerrard, drawing blood from Gerrard in the process. He's going off to get treatment. 14 min Of course, Capello's England have a habit of turning a dodgy first half into a matchwinning second: Belarus and Egypt spring to mind straight away. It's not the worst habit to get into, but it's not the best either. GOAL! England 1-0 Mexico (King 17) A lovely moment for the returning Ledley King, who scores his second England goal. England won their first corner on the left. It was swung beyond the far post by Gerrard, back on and wearing a Butcher/Ince bandage; Crouch climbed all over Rodriguez to head it back across goal and the unmarked King flicked a header past Perez from six yards. The defending was pretty poor but England will not give a solitary one. 20 min "I take your point about previous friendlies, but I think there's a difference between friendlies during qualifying, and those leading up to a tournament, the first of which is that you don't play two such games within the space of a week," says Mark Gillespie. "Apart from needing to see more players and trim his squad, he was also never going to be able to pick anything near the first team here given that he was resting the FA cup final players. So it made sense that he would experiment more in this game as that was inevitable anyway, and possibly play nearer a full strength side in the next game." Maybe. I still think Heskey and Lennon could easily have started both games; I bet certain other players will. 21 min The goal hasn't altered the pattern of the game, which is beind dictated by Mexico's classy, penetrative passing. 22 min Torrado is an excellent player in midfield: Xavi-lite, with the wisdom and calmness of an old don. Mexico have had 59 per cent of the possession in the first quarter of the match, and plenty of that has been through him. 23 min A marvellous burst from Rooney, who spins Osorio on the left and then skins him in a race for goal. He reaches the area before trying to slither past Rodriguez, who makes a splendid, clean sliding challenge. 24 min "John Terry must be green with envy watching this," says David Wall. " Not only does the guy who stands in for him at centre-half score the opener but Gerrard gets to wear a conspicuous head-bandage for a blood injury thereby threatening the former captain's position in the bravery stakes." 26 min Theo Walcott's career in miniature. He charges at goal from the halfway line, storms past Torrado but then delays his pass until Rooney, who was clear on goal, is offside. Rooney's huffy body language betrayed a complete lack of faith in Walcott, and he gave him a look of magisterial contempt. I've seen that look a few times. 28 min Some more excellent play from Mexico ends with Torrado lovingly inviting Aguilar to shot from 25 yards. His shot spins up off Ferdinand towards Salcido, who was in an offside position when his header was saved by Green. 29 min Robert Green makes a fantastic save. After Baines and King failed to deal with a bouncing ball, Dos Santos beat Ferdinand in a race – worrying signs there – and played a very smart square pass for Vela, 18 yards out and clear on goal. He sidefooted it carefully towards the bottom corner with his left foot, but Green thrust out his right hand to make a superb reaction save. Mexico deserve to be at least level, probably ahead. They are giving England a bit of a lesson in the simple art of playing football. 31 min Now Salcido hits the post! Mexico kept the ball for at least a minute before the ball was laid back to Salcido on the edge of the box, left of centre. His first shot was blocked desperately by Milner and his follow up, curled with the right foot towards the far corner, smacked off the outside of the post. Mexico have now had eight shots to England's one. 32 min England can't keep the ball at all. It's as if they're nowhere near as good without Emile Heskey! 33 min "On the ITV website they have a competition to win th chance to train on Wembley's 'Hallowed Turf'," says Hugh Stalliday. "Is this some new and insidious form of accident compensation advertising?" GOAL! England 2-0 Mexico (Crouch 34) The Hand of Crouch puts England 2-0 up. Another corner, another goal. It was played short and Gerrard whipped in a cross towards Rooney, absurdly unmarked six yards out. He flashed his header against the bar but, as the ball looped up and then dropped towards goal with the keeper Perez out of the game, it hit Crouch's arm approximately 0.00004 yards from goal and went into the net. He was also offside. The ITV commentators spout the usual scoreline-based crap. "Summer football!" screams Peter Drury, whatever the hell that means. Then the camera cuts to Fabio Capello, who has a face like thunder. 36 min Green makes another important save. Torrado rolled a through-pass into a tank-sized gap between Johnson and King for Vela to charge clear on goal. He got to within 15 yards and then hit a right-footed shot that was a bit too close to Green, who was able to beat it away. 38 min Still it's all Mexico. Green haplessly spills a bobbling long-ranger from Salcido, but there is nobody following up and he gets away with it. 39 min "How long has it been since Hugo Sanchez?" says Scott W. "And still Mexico haven't found a goalscorer. Tidy on the ball, organised in defence, this game could be out of sight for England. Some poor finishing and they're two goals down due to a set-piece and a fluke. Are they actually trying to make Rob Green look good?" Hernandez is supposed to be a tidy finisher, no? His, er, YouTube clips look good. 40 min Is this a compliment? I'm not really sure. "Is it just me," says Kabir Sethi, "or is England looking like a poor man's Inter?" 41 min Giovanni goes on a beautifully direct run, pulsating with menace all the way, but he gets to within 20 yards and then pokes a pitiful shot across goal and well wide. He is still on Tottenham's books, and has just turned 21. He certainly has the tools to become a Proper Player. 43 min "Sid Waddell has obviously upped his game with Stephen Fry's company," says Phil Sawyer. "He's just used the line 'nothing you can say, it's a total eclipse of the darts'. I'm trying to get into the football (it's on the tv while the darts is on the pc), especially with us already being 2-0 up, but what's happening in the darts commentary is a legend in the making." Why aren't we bon-mot-by-bon-motting the darts? 45 min There will be two minutes of added twilight robbery. 45+1 min "Mexico away from Azteca losing 2-0 to an English-speaking team despite dominating possession?" says Chris Ferris. "This sounds awfully familiar to many USA fans." GOAL! England 2-1 Mexico (Franco 45) Franco gets the goal that Mexico fully deserve, prompting a total farce on ITV. An outswinging corner from the right was headed goalwards by Marquez, 16 yards out. It was cleared off the line by Baines at the near post, but Franco followed up to tap the loose ball through Baines and into the net. It was miles over the line, but for some reason the ITV commentator Peter Drury was in complete denial. "Cleared off the line by Baines... and again!" he tubthumped as the ball nestled about 500 miles over the line. He then rambled something about a controversial call from the assistant referee. All very bizarre. Half time: England 2-1 Mexico Mexico outclassed Chelsea-less England to an almost humiliating degree. England lead 2-1. Make of that what you will. See you 10 minutes. A very worthy half-time plug "Can you please mention my mate Rob Forbes on your live commentary blog tonight," says Chris Wright, eschewing the poor old question mark, as most people do these days. Poor old question mark. "He has cycled from Dorset to South Africa unaided (19,000 km) (including swimming across the straights of Gibraltar) to watch the World Cup. He has a website and he's is currently in a four-way battle to become Continental Tyres' 'biggest England fan' , but he is trailing and needs all the help he can get." Half-time emails "I don't think, in a decade and a half of watching football, I've ever seen a team have their arse handed to them so comprehensively and yet be winning like this. I imagine Capello with give them the mother of all roastings at half time, England to improve, and probably win this quite comprehensively, maybe 4-1 or 5-1. Then the red-tops will go on about England to win, and, just as they did against Egypt, forget how poor England were for 45 minutes of warm up time that they won't get come a knockout match" - Robert Smithson. "I think what Kabir Sethi means is that while Inter were apparently willing to give the ball away to concentrate on defending, England are just willing to give the ball away. If Mexico fans get bored of this, will they do an Our Wave?" - Sam Barritt. "Andy Brassell on ******* managed to point the brilliant commentary with the last kick of the half. 'And he's given it!'...that's because it went in" – Henrique Da Costa. 46 min A few half-time substitutions. For England, Joe Hart, Jamie Carragher and Jermaine Defoe have replaced Robert Green, Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch. For Mexico, the new Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez is on for Franco, who limped off after scoring that controversial goal before the break. GOAL! England 3-1 Mexico (Johnson 47) Glen Johnson scores an absolute beauty, his first goal for England. He played a one-two with Walcott on the right and then ran across the line of the 18-yard box, past Salcido and Torrado before striking a gorgeous left-footed curler across goal and into the top of the net. Yep, left footed. That was a wonderful goal. 49 min "Your desription of Giovanni dos Santona as someone who 'has the tools to become a Proper Player' made me sad knowing that most of England's Proper Players are tools," says Ian Copestake. 50 min England have had four attacks and scored three goals. Now we are back to business, which is Mexico passing it around very fluently. They have looked a really handy side going forward and their group – with France, Uruguay and South Africa – will be one of the harder ones to predict. 51 min "I think Drury just stumbled into English football commentary legend with that startling failure to not only come to terms with the evidence of his senses but to also encode that information into a meaningful form," says Scott W. I want to see it again; it was hilarious. 52 min A fabulous curving cross from Walcott on the right flashes right across goal between defenders, goalkeeper and the onrushing Defoe. Seconds later, Pablo Barrera replaces Paul Aguilar for Mexico. "He is quick, and he shoots," says Peter Drury, in no way patronisingly. 54 min Gerrard, who has swapped places with Milner, tries an ambitious lob that lands on the top of the net. Perez had it covered anyway. "You wished it in," says Peter Drury. Did we? 55 min Gerrard plays a one-two with Rooney, runs into the D and, after the merest breath from Barrera in his direction, falls over in familiar style. The referee rightly has none of it. Thirty seconds later, Barrera's snapshot from the edge of the box is straight at Hart, who doesn't Scott Carson it into his own net. 56 min "Adrian Chiles as Pravda - 'So far, so goo'd he says at half-time," says Mike Gibbons. "I know it's 2-1, and in this, the broadband generation, only the scoreline matters, but have England not just been completely played off the park by a team who are an outside shot to even make it out of their group at the World Cup?" 58 min A gorgeous inswinging cross from Dos Santos on the right, coaxed into that corridor of uncertainty between defenders and goalkeeper, just escapes first Hernandez, who was being held by Carragher, and then Vela at the far post. 60 min "The commentary on ITV never ceases to amaze me," says Silver Fox. "It really is aimed at the lowest common denominator. It's so bad that Mrs Fox (who was half watching the first half) called it absolutely shocking. Now that is an insult. Hope we're not using all our luck up before the World Cup, can't believe how poor we've been so far." 61 min "Typical Mexico performance," sniffs Michael Aston. "They pass it around nicely enough but rarely penetrate, are atrocious defensively and have the heart of a field mouse." And that's Blockbusters. 62 min England bring on Tom Huddlestone for the very disappointing Michael Carrick. Mexico replace Carlos Vela with Andreas Guardado. 63 min Here's Jordi Gomez. "Earlier I said: Has anyone noticed that Mexico is indeed playing 3-4-3? England would kill them if they found the way to play wide wingers, something difficult with such a defensive 4-4-2. Now: Looks like Capello has seen the same, because he's moved Gerrard to the centre, and now plays with two proper wingers. Mexico cannot stop their penetration from the sides." In the time you read that, odds on Jordi Gomez becoming the next Internazionale plummeted to 3-1 from Pickyourownprice-1. 64 min Defoe touches the ball, which is a neat idea if you want to be a footballer. Marquez dispossesses him and Mexico resume normal service. Barrera zips infield from the right but his clipped left-footed shot from the corner of the box is easily saved by Hart. 66 min A stunning first-time reverse pass from Rooney sends Gerrard charging through on goal. He is shoved over by Barrera just a fraction outside the box. Gerrard made a meal of it – do I even need to tell you that anymore – but it was a foul. It would have been a red card in a competitive game, but he only gets a yellow. Gerrard has been extremely good since moving into the centre of midfield. 67 min Milner lays the free-kick off and Gerrard passes it just wide of the right post. That was a very neat effort, about which you would be able to read more had the MBM program not crashed after I first described it. 70 min "At least tonight should see the end of the Ledley King myth," says Kevin Hunter, controversially suggesting that night-time has the gift of sight. "Seems that the longer players go without appearing for England, the better they become in the eyes of the viewing public. He's been all over the place defensively tonight - should have given away a penalty, lost his player for the goal and has barely got within ten yards of Vela." He did have a shocking first half, but he was in decent company. 72 min Another Mexican substitution: dos Santos off, the 97-year-old Cuauhtemoc Blanco – who become famous for his PlayStation trick during the 1998 World Cup – on. Remember this one? 74 min "So one crap half in a crap first half full of crap England regulars puts the King myth to bed?" pudemups Ivan Victor. "Let's forget King's magnificent one-kneed performances against Arsenal and Chelsea at the end of the season." Get a chatroom. 76 min "I remember that trick," says Tom Marlow. "The ITV commentators named it the Blanco bounce, I think Big Ron Atkinson was involved, and they all seemed very pleased with themselves." 77 min Barrera skins Baines yet again and flashes another very good low cross along the six-yard box, with nobody on the end of it. Moments later, Aaron Lennon replaces Theo Walcott. Any chance Walcott had of being more than an impact substitute in South Africa probably disappeared tonight. 78 min Gerrard is penalised for a tackle on Blanco 25 yards out, even though he won the ball as he came in from the side. It's curved well over by the left foot of Guadardo. "Not good enough" says that famous free-kick expert Andy Townsend. 79 min The new Manchester United striker Hernandez has barely touched the ball, by the way. 80 min "The general concensus is that all television football commentators and pundits are woefully inadequate, banal and cliché-ridden," says Brian Rafferty. "May I suggest replacing them with the likes of Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan, Mani and Bez." I'd pay a subscription to listen to ManiZone commentary. 82 min Capello has a history of important tactical switches with England, and moving Gerrard and Milner at half-time has definitely made a difference. That is a serious weapon for England to have: not only does Capello has the vision to see what needs to be done, but he has the absolute conviction to make the necessary changes as early as half-time. If this lot were managed by anyone else, they would do well to get past the second round. 83 min Rooney's chip is cleared off the line by Rodriguez. The goalkeeper Perez came out of his box to intercept a through ball towards Defoe. His clearance screwed across the field to Rooney, who took his time and then lofted it towards the empty net. Rodriguez got back to head clear from under the bar. 84 min An England debut for Adam Johnson, who replaces James Milner. That means he will play on the left, rather than his usual club role on the right, and I guess hat means it's between him and Joe Cole for one place in the squad. 85 min The lively substitute Barrera forces a rudimentary save from Hart with a curling long-ranger. Though Mexico have had almost as much of the ball in the second half, they have been nowhere near as penetrative. 86 min With his first touch, Johnson spins Torrado very smartly on the left of the box, but his low cross is booted clear. He was having his shirt tugged by Torrado in the box and could have gone down. 88 min "Any news on the darts?" says Jonathan Perugia. 89 min Aaron Lennon goes on a fantastic run from the right, all the way to the edge of the box, where he is brazenly tripped over by Rodriguez. That was comically cynical, and would probably have brought another red card in a competitive game; instead it was yellow. It's a free-kick 20 yards from goal, to the right of centre. Leighton Baines slaps it into the wall. 90 min There will be three additional minutes. Full time: England 3-1 Mexico That's the end of a weird game. Mexico outclassed England, particularly in the first half, and I'm not really sure what England will take from it, apart from gratitude for a) Fabio Capello's tactical decisiveness and b) the health of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. Those three had great games tonight. Still, it could have been worse; they could have drawn 0-0 against Cape Verde . Thanks for your emails; I'll leave you with something far more important, an update on the darts from Will McLoughlin. The Power threw a nine-dart finish on his first visit - Sid Waddell has exploded in a shower of colourful aphorisms.