Defoe's double helps make up for blunders.

Holland .................................. 2 England ................................. 2

JERMAIN Defoe's second-half double allowed England to come from two goals down at the break to snatch a draw in their friendly against Holland.

England seemed certain to start the World Cup season with a morale-sapping defeat as basic blunders from Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry gifted the already-qualified Dutch their interval advantage.

Instead, Fabio Capello managed to inject some life into his troops, with Defoe supplying the killer finish to passes from the excellent Frank Lampard and eye-catching youngster James Milner, to take his personal tally to four England goals in two games.

Capello is far too experienced to be won over by the result, which is pretty creditable in itself given the hosts are ranked number three in the world.

However, while defensive deficiencies were obvious, England's refusal to accept defeat from the most unpromising of situations bodes very well for the trials expected to lie in front of them in South Africa next year. Capello did not quite say the result was unimportant but he did give the impression he was more interested in the performance, to find out whether his side had retained the lessons absorbed so well last season.

However, it was a shambolic opening period resulting in Ferdinand's pass towards Robert Green allowing Dirk Kuyt to open the scoring.

CAPTION(S):

Jermain Defoe scored a brace