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Trevor Sinclair was one of only two players to feature for more than 45 minutes, and for the second half he moved over to the right to allow team-mate Joe Cole to play on the left for England.
Trevor worked industriously on both flanks, and whilst not doing anything extra special, he didn't do his chances any harm. Joe Cole was hero turned villain last night, being goal creator for both sides.
It was sheer perseverance that led to the England goal, with Joe just not giving up in an attempt to get the ball off the Italian defenders just outside the box. It was followed by a classy finish by Robbie Fowler to put England in the lead.
However, just minutes later, Joe cut inside midway through the England half and ran into difficulty. Instead of passing to a team mate, he was dispossessed by Gianluca Zambrotta, who passed to Vincenzo Montella, who shot with pin-point accuracy into the top left corner of the England goal. David James was not at fault at all, with the finish unstoppable.
However, James was the guilty party seconds from the final whistle when he brought down Massimo Maccarone to give away a penalty, which he failed to save.
Elsewhere, Steve Lomas was harshly sent off in the Northern Ireland clash with Liechtenstein, when he was adjudged to have elbowed Tomas Beck. Things got worse for the Northern Irish Hammers, when Grant McCann was stretchered off in the second half of his full International debut. He has damaged medial ligaments meaning he will be sidelined for four to five weeks.
Finally, Christian Dailly was on the wrong side of a 5-0 victory in the fixture between France and Scotland.