England leave on a high
England 3 Mexico 1 Wembley friendly 24 May 2010
England waved goodbye to their fans at Wembley with a 3-1 win over Mexico.
Crouch headed a corner onto the head of Ledley King who put England ahead against the run of play in the 17th minute, and Robert Green made sure England hung onto their lead in the 29th minute when he came face to face with Vela but dived swiftly to his right to push away the Mexican's shot, but a minute later it was the post that rescued England when Salcido came close with a shot from the edge of the area. With 10 minutes of the half remaining Perez pushed a Rooney header against the bar and Peter Crouch forced it over the line to give England breathing space, but Mexico reduced the deficit just before the break when a poor off-the-line clearance from Baines kept out a Marquez header but allowed Franco to stab the ball in from close range. Two minutes into the 2nd half Johnson picked the ball up on the right and ran towards the box to unleash a spectacular shot into the top corner. Rooney almost got on the score-sheet in the 83rd minute when he attempted to lob Perez who had come hurtling off his line but the Mexican was quick to return to his goal-line. England will now travel to Austria where they face Japan before going on to the World Cup.