Netherlands: Stekelenburg, Heitinga, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Braafheid, De Jong, Schaars (Mendes Da Silva...

Netherlands 2-2 England

Netherlands: Stekelenburg, Heitinga, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Braafheid, De Jong, Schaars (Mendes Da Silva 82), Van der Vaart (Sneijder 46), Robben (Afellay 55), van Persie (Babel 46), Kuyt (Huntelaar 78).
Subs Not Used: Vorm, Marcellis, Van Der Wiel, De Zeeuw.

Goals: Kuyt 10, Van der Vaart 38.

England: Green, Johnson, Ashley Cole (Bridge 84), Ferdinand, Terry, Barry (Carrick 46), Beckham (Wright-Phillips 46), Lampard, Young (Milner 68), Heskey (Defoe 46), Rooney (Carlton Cole 59).
Subs Not Used: Robinson, Upson, Lescott, Walcott, Hart.

Goals: Defoe 49, 77.

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

Jermain Defoe was Fabio Capello’s super-sub, as England came from two goals down at the interval against the Netherlands to earn a creditable draw in Amsterdam.

Dirk Kuyt and Rafael Van der Vaart rightly punished unforgivable errors by Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry to give the Dutch control. Both Manchester-based players gave poor back passes that were intercepted, and well finished.

Down 2-0 at the interval, Defoe came off the bench to masterfully beat the Dutch defence and pull a goal back after 49 minutes to give England hope.

And Defoe then steered in a cross from fellow substitute James Milner with 13 minutes left as England finished strongly.

England coach Fabio Capello will not be content with the performance of his side - and will demand that the schoolboy errors that were responsible for the two goals be eradicated as the build up continues towards what he hopes will be a serious World Cup challenge in South Africa next summer. The England squad as a whole played with spirit and class, although the performances of Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry were both lackluster.