MORULENG, South Africa (AP) — England's first-half performance in its final tuneup for the World Cup so upset its coach that he couldn't leave the field.
Fabio Capello remained outside on his own next to the pitch at halftime in a match with a South African league team. England overcame its inconsistency for a 3-0 win Monday, not quite the proper way to prepare for Saturday's opener against the United States.
Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole and Wayne Rooney scored against the Platinum Stars in front of a small crowd.
Only midfielder Joe Cole played the entire match as Capello made 10 changes at halftime. Only injured midfielder Gareth Barry, who will miss Saturday's match against the U.S. with an ankle injury, and goalkeeper David James did not play any part in the game.
Rooney was one of the substitutes and his second-half yellow card for indicating to the referee that he needed eyeglasses perfectly illustrated the team's frustrations at playing poorly just five days before meeting the Americans.
Cole was lively, but England labored throughout and struggled to retain possession even after increasing its tempo in the second half.
Capello used a lineup that, except for Rooney's exclusion and starting 23-year-old Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, could open the game in Rustenburg on Saturday.
Rooney is guaranteed to start Saturday, but Hart has never started a game for England.
"It was a good run out, we needed to get the game in and to play 45 minutes felt good, so I was happy," Rooney said. "We are ready — these are preparation games for us for the big one now coming up on Saturday."
John Terry and Ledley King were in central defense, with the injured Rio Ferdinand watching from the sideline.
"We understand each other's game really well and it was important that we got 45 minutes today in a real competitive game," Terry said.
England took just three minutes to go in front against the mid-ranked South African Premier League opponent.
Shaun Wright-Phillips slipped a pass through to Steven Gerrard and Ferdinand's replacement as captain strolled down the right side before pulling the ball back for Defoe to roll it into the net.
But three minutes later, England fullback Glen Johnson made the first mistake of an error-strewn 45 minutes when he knocked over striker Mzikayise Mashaba to concede a penalty kick.
Bradley Grobler sent the kick over the crossbar. Johnson later missed a chance of his own.
Other players were similarly unimpressive.
Striker Peter Crouch missed the ball completely when Ashley Cole sent a neat cross. Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole misplaced crosses. The midfield pairing of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard was easily passed by the attacking home team.
Such was Capello's ire, the Italian had to be warned by the fourth official after straying from the coaching area too many times.
Rooney went past two players in the 63rd minute and passed from the right for Joe Cole to knock the ball into the bottom right corner. He got on the score sheet himself when he sliced the ball into the net from James Milner's cross.
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