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WEMBLEY, England (AP) -Wayne Rooney scored twice Saturday to help England overcome a shaky performance and beat Kazakhstan 5-1 in a World Cup qualifying game.
In coach Fabio Capello's first competitive game at Wembley, England left the field at halftime to subdued jeers from the crowd. The English almost fell behind at the start of the second half before Rio Ferdinand, appointed captain in place of injured John Terry, headed in a corner kick in the 52nd minute.
Kazakhstan defender Alexandr Kuchma, under pressure from Rooney, headed a ball into his own net in the 63rd before a bad pass by Ashley Cole allowed Zhambyl Kukeyev to make it 2-1. But Rooney added two late goals and substitute Jermain Defoe got one in the 90th.
Although the performance was far below the 4-1 win at Croatia last month, England still has maximum points from its first three qualifying matches ahead of Wednesday's game at Belarus.
"We knew we had to be patient," said Rooney, who has five goals in his last three games for club and country. "We know we can play better but the result was the most important today to keep putting the points on the board."
Rooney scored in the 77th with a header off Wes Brown's cross. He scored again in the 86th when set up by David Beckham, who entered as a substitute in the 79th minute.
Beckham moved up to third place on England's career list with his 106th appearance. The 33-year-old former captain is tied with Bobby Charlton while Bobby Moore is at 108 and goalkeeper Peter Shilton at 125.
Ferdinand was unhappy England fans jeered Cole after his blunder.
"It's disappointing," he said. "When any player makes a mistake all you want to do is get behind him ... and make sure with his next touch that he gets his confidence back and plays himself back into the game.
"It doesn't help when the fans are booing one of their own players. Hopefully the people have gone and may feel a bit ashamed of themselves."
Capello hopes Terry will have recovered sufficiently from a lower back problem to replace Matthew Upson at Belarus.
"Terry, I think, I hope, will be OK tomorrow," Capello said. "We'll do some soft practice and we'll decide."
