We were not prepared to take on the tackles."Any pain felt by Southgate, Heskey and Frank Lampard will be assuaged by the warm satisfaction of fine performances, but none will be happier than Matthew Upson. The defender replaced Ferdinand to become Birmingham City's first international since Trevor Francis more than two decades ago. Of the other irregulars Phil Neville was competent on the left, Danny Mills provided his usual muscle while Trevor Sinclair, making his first start since the World Cup, was disciplined. In goal David James had little to do but made no errors, a combination enjoyed by Paul Robinson in the second period.England were initially more cohesive than their hosts, which was hardly surprising since Jomo Sono only took over as manager on Saturday, selected a squad on Sunday, and spent the hours before the game trying to round them up like the manager of a parks team.The visitors took quick advantage of their disarray. Within seconds of the kick-off Michael Owen was grappled off the ball by Lucas Radebe. Beckham whipped in the free kick and Southgate headed in at the near post.It was the Middlesbrough defender's first England goal since 1998. It was also England's fastest goal for 21 years, coming in 10 seconds behind Bryan Robson's 27th-second goal against France at the 1982 World Cup in Bilbao.This reminder that conceding free-kicks against England is a risky business made little difference to the South Africans' approach.

After seven minutes they might have been punished again after Sinclair was fouled but, though Brian Baloyi fumbled Beckham's free-kick, he recovered to parry Owen's follow-up.South Africa had begun to settle as a unit but remained restricted to long shots when Delron Buckley broke down the left. His cross struck Mills' arm and the Mauritian referee awarded the spot-kick. With Scholes, especially, responding in kind, the match remained competitive but the game had become less open. Baloyi gathered a Steven Gerrard drive at the second attempt and saw Mills shoot over. For South Africa Shaun Bartlett and McCarthy put efforts over.It was midway through the half that Beckham was injured, landing awkwardly after being clattered by Thabang Molefe. Beforehand Sono had spoken of requiring a "juju man" to stop Beckham.

Last night he joked Molefe had been his witchdoctor, adding: "It looks like it worked. Beckham couldn't get past him."The England midfielder played on until the 50th minute by which time the usual procession of substitutes had begun. Jermaine Jenas was allowed the chance to have a run in the right-flank role with a view to filling it against Slovakia but he struggled to get into the game Lampard was more successful. He made an immediate impact striding forward unchallenged to hit a low shot from 30 yards which Baloyi, to no great surprise, spilled. Heskey tapped in the rebound for his fifth England goal and first since the World Cup. With the substitutions the game gradually lost its shape but few were concerned.

The night had always been primarily about launching South Africa's 2010 World Cup bid with a touch of ?n and that was comfortably achieved. Whether England will pay a price for their assistance remains to be seen.Eriksson had no doubts about the value of the trip "It was worth it to meet Nelson Mandela," he said. "Getting up at 6am is not normal but it was probably the only chance for me to do it in my life."ENGLAND (4-4-2): James (West Ham United); Mills (Leeds United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Southgate (Middlesbrough), P Neville (Manchester United); Beckham (Manchester United), Scholes (Manchester United), Gerrard (Liverpool), Sinclair (West Ham United); Owen (Liverpool), Heskey (Liverpool). Substitutes: Robinson (Leeds United) for James, h-t; Upson (Birmingham City) for Ferdinand, h-t; Jenas (Newcastle United) for Beckham, 50; Lampard (Chelsea) for Sinclair, 57; Vassell (Aston Villa) for Heskey, 65; Barry (Aston Villa) for Gerrard, 81.SOUTH AFRICA (4-3-1-2): Baloyi (Kaizer Chiefs); Mabizela (Orlando Pirates), A Mokoena (Germinal Beerschot), Radebe (Leeds United), Molefe (Jomo Cosmos); Fredericks (Kaizer Chiefs), Sibaya (Rubin Kazan), Buckley (VfL Bochum); T Mokoena (Jomo Cosmos); Bartlett (Charlton Athletic), McCarthy (Celta Vigo). Substitutes: Manathela (Orlano Pirates) for McCarthy, 68; Mendu (Moroka Swallows) for T Mokoena, 69; Mazibuko (Bush Bucks) for Fredericks, 77.Referee: L K Chong (Mauritius).. Cruella Seville, one inspired Scottish tabloid labelled it, but Celtic must swiftly put behind them the injustices, real and imagined, of their 3-2 defeat by Porto after extra time in the Uefa Cup final.