Captain Steven Gerrard struck twice as England came from behind to beat Hungary 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley on Wednesday.
Looking for a morale-boosting win after a miserable World Cup campaign, England fell behind to a Phil Jagielka own goal, before Gerrard turned the game with two goals in the space of four minutes.
It was hardly the start of a new dawn for England, but it was at least a win and the atmosphere was nowhere near as hostile as many had expected.
“I am happy with the performance, we played well in the first 30 minutes, but the last 10 minutes of the first half were not so good,” manager Fabio Capello said.
“They were really compact and it was difficult to find space.
“In the second half we saw some different young players, and their performance was very good. It was important for them to play here at Wembley and not away from home.
“I think we have found some new players for the future.” Both Capello and Gerrard had suggested some booing was inevitable — in fact, they seemed almost to encourage it as a form of bloodletting after the disappointments of the World Cup — but there was an air of muted encouragement about Wembley.
Only John Terry, Ashley Cole and, to a lesser extent, Gerrard were subjected to much in the way of jeers, but they often were before the World Cup as well.
“The fans were really good, thank you,” Capello went on. “I know the fans respect the team, I hope we can win something for these fans as they are fantastic.”
The Gerrard-Rooney combination seemed to have worked as early as the third minute, Gerrard breaking from midfield to lay in Rooney to put the ball in the net with a smart first-time finish.
Gerrard, though, had delayed his pass a fraction too long, and Rooney was — rightly — ruled offside.
Jagielka, one of the players who missed South Africa, then jabbed wide as Hungary dealt hesitantly with a corner, before, with 13 minutes played, Glen Johnson laid in Walcott to cut the ball back for Adam Johnson, who fired badly over.
That miss seemed to inhibit England and, although Gerrard forced Gabor Kiraly to tip his 34{+t}{+h}-minute free-kick over, the chances dried up as the half wore on.
The half-time substitutions pushed England back into the 4-4-2 shape that was so derided in South Africa, with Adam Johnson moving to the right as Ashley Young came in on the left and Rooney playing off Bobby Zamora.
Slowly, Hungary came more into the game and, 17 minutes in to the half, they took the lead in farcical circumstances.
An error from Michael Dawson let in Zoltan Gera, who spread the ball left for Vladimir Koman. He drilled the ball across goal, where it deflected off Jagielka and past Joe Hart.
Whether it crossed the line or not is open to debate. Television replays tended to suggest it did not, but the linesman gave it.
England had not lost to Hungary since 1962, but with embarrassment threatening against the team ranked 62nd in the world, England at last found some fluency.
Gerrard, gifted space on the edge of the box, levelled with a clip into the top corner after 68 minutes, and four minutes later the England captain found a winner.
Laid in by Young, he found space superbly between three Hungarian defenders and jabbed a finish past Kiraly.
Zamora then went close with a dipping volley and a header, while Rooney was booed as he was substituted, responding with a big wave.
England deserved their win, but Bulgaria and Switzerland will provide far stiffer tests when European championship qualifying gets under way next month.
“It’s only a friendly but they (Hungary) treated the game with an awful lot of respect,” said Hart. “They came to get a result and they almost did it.
“It’s a tiny step because these are games we should be winning.
But it’s hard to break teams down and it’s almost a good thing them getting a goal.”
