England grind down Trinidad and Tobago

It was a laborious match, but England defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 to make it through to the second stage of the World Cup.

In the last 16, England will have to face either Germany or Ecuador in the second round of the competition.

But it was not a sparkling match. Late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard saw England through in a game that saw the debut of Wayne Rooney on the field.

Rooney came on in a second half substitution for Michael Owen who had failed to impress.

Frank Lampard said that Ronney's presence on the pitch had been a "real boost."

But on the showing of the matches so far, it will take far more than Wayne Rooney back from injury to help lift a tedious England team performance and see the team progress through to the later stage of the World Cup.

Trinidad and Tobago used a well organised defence to blunt the England game in a lacklustre match that really only got going late in the second-half when there was goal action. Following the two England goals, Trinidad's Stern John found the England net, but the goal was disallowed.

England Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said that he was relieved that the Rooney fitness saga was finally over.

"Now he's in it and can only be better and better. He did very well when he came on. He can't come out and be the best man on the pitch when he has not played for a long time. You have to play football to get match fit. The tackles are different, the tempo is higher. But all the squad are glad to see him on the pitch instead of talking about him."

England next face Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson's home country Sweden at 8pm on June 20, in Cologne.

(SP/CD)