THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — Gareth Barry scored his first England goal eight years after making his debut, in a 3-0 friendly victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday.
The Aston Villa midfielder volleyed over in the 12th minute.
Jermain Defoe doubled the visitors’ advantage in the 16th with his first international goal since September 2006 and the Portsmouth striker added a third in the 49th.
It was a comfortable win for Fabio Capello’s undermanned side with Trinidad threatening little on the night celebrating the federation’s centennial.
David Beckham captained England for the first time since the 2006 World Cup on his 102nd international appearance to help the party atmosphere.
"I was surprised and didn’t expect it," Beckham said. "But I’ll always answer the call and be available for my country and captain them as well — it was a surprise but I am honoured to do so.
"It was the centenary game for them but they wanted to beat England and we had to put in a good performance and I think we did that."
Beckham floated in a cross in the sixth to Defoe, who failed to connect with a diving header.
Trinidad was forced into an early substitution when Sunderland forward Kenwyne Jones collided with England goalkeeper David James on six minutes. Daryl Roberts replaced the injured Jones.
Barry, who has featured in every England game this season, broke the deadlock.
Stuart Downing slotted through for leftback Wayne Bridge to hook to Barry in space in front of Trinidad goalkeeper Clayton Ince.
Defoe doubled England’s advantage in the Caribbean, slotting past Ince with an angled shot after being released by Downing.
Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard was booked in the 30th for tripping Khaleem Hyland.
The Soca Warriors took 33 minutes to force a save out of David James, with Roberts shooting from the edge of the area straight at the Portsmouth goalkeeper.
After four England substitutions at half time, Defoe made it 3-0 four minutes later — netting twice just as did in his last scoring game against Andorra in September 2006.
.David Bentley, who replaced Beckham, provided the cross that was headed back by fellow substitute Peter Crouch for Defoe to tap over the line.
The loudest home cheer of the night was for former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke who came off the bench in the 75th minute, despite having retired from international football.
West Ham’s Dean Ashton and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart made their international debuts.
The game had been billed as "A Score to Settle" after Trinidad’s 2-0 defeat by England at the 2006 World Cup in Germany — their only previous meeting.
For three hours before the game, Trinidad’s national stadium reverberated to the sound of soca and steelpan music in a celebratory atmosphere. The capacity crowd of around 23,500 were dressed mostly in white, matching the home team’s uniform.
Trinidad’s next competitive outings involve a World Cup qualifying double-header against Bermuda on June 15 and 22.
England plays the Czech Republic in a friendly in August before the World Cup campaign begins in September.