England will head to the Americas with optimism intact after overcoming Peru 3-0 in their final pre-World Cup friendly game on home soil at Wembley Stadium on Friday.
In the first of his side’s three warm-up matches, manager Roy Hodgson saw man-of-the-match Daniel Sturridge put England ahead with a sweet 20-yard strike midway through the first half.
Centre-backs Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka got on the scoresheet in the second period to complete a straightforward evening for England, who travel to Miami for a pre-tournament training camp on Sunday.
They will face Ecuador and Honduras there next week before opening their World Cup campaign against Group D rivals Italy in the Brazilian city of Manaus on June 14.
Hodgson opted to select Danny Welbeck instead of in-form Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling, with the Manchester United man lining up on the left flank in a conventional 4-2-3-1 system.
It was the teams’ first meeting since 1962 and Peru threatened first, with Joe Hart leaping to field a deflected shot from Montpellier youngster Jean Reza, but England cranked into gear in the last 20 minutes of the first half.
Reigning world champions Spain barely had to break sweat as they coasted to a 2-0 win over Bolivia in Seville on Friday night.
Fernando Torres opened the scoring with a penalty on 51 minutes before Andres Iniesta wrapped up victory six minutes from time with a stunning goal. Torres, on the other hand, proved a constant menace to the Bolivian backline in his first start for “La Rioja” since the Confederations Cup final almost a year ago.
He had his reward when the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Javi Martinez, which Torres cooly stroked home. Substitute Iniesta hit a sublime second in off the post with a sumptuous cross-shot.
Striker Edin Dzeko scored a double to lead Bosnia to a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in an international friendly in Missouri on Friday.
Dzeko scored once each half to give Bosnia a 2-0 lead before Didier Drogba scored a late consolation goal for Ivory Coast, Africa’s highest ranked national team. Bosnia, who are heading to the World Cup for the first time, dominated the match but squandered a series of opportunities to score.
Barcelona striker Alexis Sanchez set up all three goals as Chile fought back from 2-0 down to beat Egypt 3-2 on Friday