England 4 Paraguay 0

England found it easy against Paraguay at Anfield after a good start.

Michael Owen only took three minutes to score as captain.

Steven Gerrard clipped in an outswinging free kick that allowed the striker to head in from close range his 15th goal for tghe national team.

Paraguay responded with an 8th minute header from Carlos Gamarra into the hands of goalkeeper David Seaman but England had started the game well and Gerrard set upOwen for another headed chance in the 10th minute when his driven cross saw Owen head wide from in front of goal.

The Liverpool stars combined again in the 25th minute with a fantastic long pass from Gerrard which Owen chested into his run but his finish was well over the crossbar.

Caniza survived a clear handball at the end of the second half and Parguay ended the session with a flurry as the home team relaxed.

Roque Santa Cruz came very close to steering in a Francisco Arce cross at the far post after right back Gary Neville had let the ball go through him and Diego Gavilan also swept a shot over the cross bar but England made six changes at half-time and three of the new men combined for the second goal in the 47th minute.

Joe Cole was stationed on the left wing and won the ball back well to set up Robbie Fowler who clipped the ball to Danny Murphy who drove in a deflected shot for his first international goal.

Darius Vassel capped a great show and benefited from more good work by Cole. His speed came close to breaking apart the Paraguayan defence several times and he cut inside on a 50th minute run to hit a left foot shot which was deflected into the net.

England had not defeated a South American country in a home friendly since a win over Brazil in 1990 and had only scored two wins against South American opposition since 1966 and they never looked like losing at Anfield.

The players showed a real hunger to play at a high tempo and convince coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to take them on the World Cup expedition.

Owen Hargreaves, Vassel and Joe Cole are all likely to be included when the coach confirms his picks which could come as soon as May 7th.

Without the injured Jose Luis Chilavert Paraguay conceded a soft fourth goal when Ayala clipped a Robbie Fowler cross into his own net.