This was England's first game of the year in what is now less than 100 days to go until the start of the World Cup. The team left it late to get on the score sheet and to pull off a win. It wasn't a great game by any means by England, but the ending was exciting enough for an England fan. It showed that England can play to the final whistle as they will have to do in Germany as they bid to win the coverted World Cup.

The first half had two bad points, the first was the goal conceded by England. After winning a corner, Uruguay took the lead with a stunning goal thanks to a Pouso shot from outside the box. Terry tried to clear the ball from the corner but it went to Pouso who made no mistake as he blasted the ball into England's net with a 30-yard volley. The goal was spectacular. The second bad point was an injury to Wayne Bridge. After colliding with his own goalkeeper, Bridge suffered damage to his ankle ligaments. Not what England wanted, as they try to fill the left-back spot with Ashley Cole currently on the sidelines with an injury. Certainly not what Bridge wanted after returning to the game recently after breaking his ankle last year.

England did have chances to pull the scoreline level before the half-time whistle, but the home side weren't at their best. Into the second half captain, Beckham, took a free-kick but his chance to level the scoring failed. It was his last touch of the game as he was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips. England at this point made a double substitution and it proved to be a good decision. Peter Crouch replaced Wayne Rooney and the Liverpool player made the scoreline 1-1 on 75 mins when his height proved to be an advantage as he connected to a great cross by England man-of-the match Joe Cole.

Joe Cole almost put England in the lead as the game re-started but Viera managed to stop the shot with his legs. The Chelsea player did give England the victory in the final moment of the game when he latched on to a cross from Wright-Phillips at the near post.

England now have almost three months before their next game, when their World Cup preparations will be in full swing.

Teams

ENGLAND:
Robinson #1, Neville #2, Ferdinand #5, Terry #6 (King 46 mins - #15), Bridge #3 (Carragher 30 mins - #14), Beckham #7 (Wright-Phillips 64 mins - #19), Gerrard #4 (Jenas 46 mins - #18), Carrick #8, Cole #11, Rooney #9 (Crouch 64 mins - #21), Bent #10 (Defoe 82 mins - #20),.
Subs Not Used: Young #12, James #13, Brown #16, Richardson #17, Green #22. (Full Squad)

URUGUAY:
Carini #1 (Viera 46 mins - #12), Diogo #17, Lugano #2, Godin #3, Lima #6, Pouso #8, Perez #15 (Gonzalez 88 mins - #22), Varela #7 (Caldez 90 mins - #4), Vargas #9 (Pereira 76 mins - #16), Regueiro #11 (Martinez 83 mins - #10), Forlan #21 (Medina 86 mins - #8).
Subs Not Used: Lugano, Diogo, Forland.

Match Details

England Goals: Crouch (75 mins), J Cole (90 mins)
Uruguay Goal: Pouso (26 mins).

England Cautions: Beckham (44 mins), Carragher (88 mins) Uruguay Cautions: Lugano (69 mins), Diogo (82 mins), Forlan (84 mins)

Referee: Stefano Farina (Italy)

Attendance: 40,013