Cole saves England with late equaliser

Czechs impress IN Wembley Friendly

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ENGLAND faced uncertainty off the pitch and more questions on it as the Czech Republic taught them a lesson at Wembley before Joe Cole rescued them with a stoppage-time equaliser.

As Brian Barwick’s future as Football Association chief executive was put in the spotlight, the man he appointed as England boss, Fabio Capello, saw his team fall behind twice between Wes Brown’s first international goal.

Milan Baros, so frustrating for Liverpool and Portsmouth, opened the scoring midway through the first half, then Marek Jankulovski curled in a free-kick just after the break after Brown’s header.

Defeat looked likely until Cole, introduced as a second-half substitute, bundled the ball in despite the efforts of Jan Rajnoch on the line.

Capello had told his players that it was time to deliver, and that the experimenting was over after last season’s matches – with that in mind it is clear that Wayne Rooney is preferred as a foil to an out-and-out striker.

The opener came in the 22nd minute, with the build-up starting on the left flank. Radek Sirl checked his run to trick Brown then passed square to Baros, whose finish cannoned in off Ashley Cole to wrongfoot James.

Falling a goal behind sparked England’s midfield into their first period of sustained pressure on Petr Cech’s goal.

If England were running out of ideas when going forward, it took the reliable right boot of David Beckham to help restore parity.

Beckham’s corner from the right flank was swung towards goal and Brown headed in at the near post to give Capello his equaliser seconds before the half-time break.

It took the visitors three minutes after the restart to take the lead again.

Gareth Barry had launched himself into another reckless challenge after testing the patience of referee Terje Hauge in the first half. Jankulovski’s free-kick curled into the top corner, with James again wrongfooted It looked like a second defeat in five matches for Capello until Cole struck, saving face on an embarrassing evening.