England's Subs Bench Fuel Amsterdam Fightback

England's substitutes gave head coach Fabio Capello a selection headache last night after inspiring a rousing fightback in Amsterdam. The Dutch found themselves 2 goals to the good at half time and seemingly cruising after dominating long periods of possession whilst England were often wasteful, giving the ball away cheaply on two many occasions. Indeed, England's sloppiness resulted in not only one but 2 first half goals for the home side. First, Rio Ferdinand's woeful attempted backpass allowed Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt the chance to steal in, before rounding keeper Rob Green and firing home - a truly poor error from one of England's senior players. If the first goal was disappointing for England then what was to follow would only serve to further frustrate the travelling supporters. Gareth Barry played a blind pass back towards his own defence allowing former Chelsea star Arjen Robben the chance to run at goal. England keeper Green did well to rush out and block Robben's effort, but was powerless to see Rafael Van Der Vaart convert the follow up.

England needed a wake up call at half time, and Capello sent on Jermaine Defoe at the break to push for goals. The Tottenham striker's impact was almost immediate. Frank Lampard helped on a long ball from the England back line, and Defoe showed great pace and an excellent first touch to race clear of the Dutch defence before expertly finishing in off the post. England looked more confident, and fellow substitute James Milner provided a good cross on 67 minutes for Defoe - who headed just over at the near post. However, the duo would later combine for England's second goal. Milner did well down the left hand channel, before providing a slide rule cross for Defoe to bundle in from close range on 77 minutes. The substitutes had injected new life into an England team that had looked short of confidence in the first half, with Carlton Cole also looking threatening with his excellent display of strength, pace and close control. The West Ham striker also went close himself - firing just wide after showing great skill to turn the Dutch defender inside then out. A much improved second half performance from England's bench must surely now give Fabio Capello food for thought about his best 11 for England's next World Cup qualifiers and beyond.