Michael Owen captained England for a mere four minutes last night before scoring against Paraguay in Sven-Goran Eriksson's last World Cup warm-up at home and for a time his Liverpool understanding with Steven Gerrard dominated the match.
England - 4, Paraguay - 0
In the second half, however, West Ham's Joe Cole not only stole the show after Owen and Gerrard had been substituted but did as much as any one player could to do grab a late place in the World Cup squad as he helped to lay on goals for Danny Murphy and Darius Vassell.
When England scored a fourth time, 12 minutes from the end, it was through an own-goal from Celso Ayala following Robbie Fowler's centre.
Owen might have made the headlines as the youngest England captain since Bobby Moore and certainly he wasted no time finding the net, but a more urgent point of last night's exercise was to establish Kieron Dyer's credentials as the answer to the ongoing problem of who to play on the left side of midfield.
Because of injuries Dyer made his first international appearance for 18 months and his first ever under Eriksson. A pity he could not have made it in a more settled team. Only six of the starters are likely to play against Sweden in their opening World Cup game.
To an extent, then, this was another opportunity for Eriksson to review his spare parts. Not that the unfortunate Matt Jansen even made it to the back of the store, the Blackburn striker having been forced out by a stomach upset.
One difference stemming from the absence of David Beckham was quickly apparent. England's first free-kick, from the left, was taken by Dyer who did not curl the ball sharply towards the far post, as Beckham might have done, but played it square and vaguely towards Nicky Butt, who was caught by surprise.
No matter, Gerrard, on the right last night, has something of Beckham's way with crosses. With just over three minutes gone Gerrard's free-kick from the right was perfectly weighted for Owen to rise between the Paraguay centre-backs and direct a firm header past Ricardo Tavarelli.
The regularity with which Gerrard was giving Owen the maximum opportunity to use his speed continued to promise England goals. Midway through the first half a superb long ball from Gerrard was chested dawn by Owen as he outpaced Francisco Arce and, although his shot cleared the bar, the moment still took away what was left of Paraguay's breath.
Inevitably, Eriksson changed his latest hand at half-time, with Owen and Gerrard among six players substituted and David Seaman taking the captain's armband. One good hand, however, deserves another and within two minutes of the second half England had scored a second goal.
The scenario was reminiscent of the one which gave them a brief lead against Italy. Again the tenacity of Cole, who had come on for Dyer, instigated the move and again the ball reached Robbie Fowler, Owen's replacement. But Fowler did not score this time, instead laying off to Danny Murphy, another substitute, whose shot took a heavy deflection to wrongfoot Tavarelli.
If Gerrard had dominated England's performance in the first half Cole now caught the eye in the second. After 54 minutes the West Ham player's backheeled return pass to Darius Vassell offered Aston Villa's striker a glimpse of the net which was all he needed. Yet his goal , too, owed much to a chance deflection.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND (4-4-2): Seaman (Arsenal); G Neville (Man Utd; Carragher, Liverpool, 69), Keown (Arsenal; Mills, Leeds, h-t), Southgate (M'boro; Lampard, Chelsea, 68), Bridge (Southampton; P Neville, Man U, 69); Gerrard (Liverpool; Sinclair, West Ham, h-t), Butt (Man U; Cole, West Ham, h-t), Scholes (Man Utd; Hargreaves, B Munich, h-t), Dyer (Newcastle; Murphy, Liverpool, h-t); Owen (Liverpool; Fowler, Liverpool, h-t), Vassell (Aston Villa; Sheringham, Tottenham, 68).
PARAGUAY (4-4-2): Tavarelli; Arce, Ayala, Gamarra (Caceres, 82), Caniza; Struway, Gavilan (Sarabia, 57), Paredes, Bonet; Santa Cruz, Cardozo.
Referee: C Bolgnino (Italy).
