England's forward Wayne Rooney (R) vies with Trinidad and Tobago¡¯s midfielder Christopher Birchal (C) during the World Cup 2006 Group B Round 2 match at the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg, Germany, June 15, 2006. England won the match 2-0. (Xinhua photo)

NUREMBERG, June 15 (Xinhua) -- England qualified for the knockout stage of the World Cup after laboring to beat Trinidad & Tobago 2-0 thanks to two late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard at their Group B match at the Franken Stadion here on Thursday.

    Crouch, a Liverpool striker who stands 1.98 meters, broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute, jumping high above Trinidad & Tobago defender Brent Sancho to head home David Beckham's cross from the right in the 83rd minute.

    Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard made it 2-0 in the final minute when Frank Lampard won a free-kick and took it quickly to put England on the attack. Gerrard unleashed an unstoppable left-foot shot from outside the area on the right that left Shaka Hislop with no chance.

    With a group game to spare against Sweden, and following Ecuador's win over Costa Rica earlier in the day in Group A, England will face either hosts Germany or the Ecuadorians in the knockout stage.

    England got more and more frustrated as they found it hard to put the ball in the back of the Trinidad & Tobago net. They just missed several good chances though they dominated the match from the start.

    Their best chance came in the 44th minute, when Beckham sent a perfect cross for the unmarked 1.98-meter Liverpool striker. But he volleyed the cross well wide with nobody near him.

    England survived a scare in the injury time of the first half, with Chelsea skipper John Terry scooping a volley off the line after Carlos Edwards had beat England skipper Paul Robinson to a cross and Stern John races in looking to bundle the ball over the line.

    Wayne Rooney, who missed the first game due to a foot injury, was finally sent on in the place of Michael Owen in the 58th minute.

    England coach Sven Eriksson praised the rival's defense and added that England deserved the win.

    "We had a lot of chances in the first 80 minutes and we were unlucky not to take them. Trinidad and Tobago defended with eight, nine or ten men behind the ball and made things very difficult forus.

    "We showed great patience too. We fully deserved the win. Both goals that we scored were excellent.

    The Swede breathed a sign of relief after seeing Rooney played 30 minutes in the second after.

    "I have to say too, that although he didn't score, I was delighted to see Wayne Rooney on the pitch. I am very happy that he is fit. Of course, he is not 100 per cent in form, but he hasn't played football for six weeks, so how can he be? This 30 minutes will have been very important for him and I hope to see him getting stronger in each game that we play."

    Beenhakker was disappointed that his team failed to bring a better results.

    "I am proud of the effort of my players today, but of course we are disappointed. They played with a lot of courage and a lot of passion. That's the only way we can play. Before the match we knew that we could organise the players to frustrate England for a long period of the game and we did that to good effect.

    "It was very hard to see the first goal go in. As the minutes tick by and the game goes on, your hopes build and you get more and more excited. Our heads dropped after that and I wasn't surprised to see England score the second.

    But he also said that England deserved the win because they dominated the match. "They deserved to win. I wish them luck for the rest of the competition."

    England captain, named Man of the Match afterward, said: "It would be fair to say that you haven't seen the best of us yet, but we put ourselves in a good position. We know we can play better," Beckham said.

    "It was so much work. England got so much position on the ball," said Trinidad striker Dwight Yorke, Beckham's former Manchester United teammate. "It was a special moment because I have so many friends, so many memories of playing in England."

    "People expected us to walk through this game," Beckham said. "We knew they were going to play 11 men behind the ball. They made it hard for us all game. We knew if we kept to our game plan that we'd break them down." Enditem