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England coach Fabio Capello insists he spoke quietly to his players after a shambolic first 45 minutes in Amsterdam - the Italian will keep his powder dry for more significant days than this.

The trademark iron mask slipped as he generously blamed two crass errors from Rio Ferdinand and Gareth Barry that gifted the Netherlands a two-goal lead on lingering pre-season rust. It is unlikely Capello will be so forgiving if lapses are repeated as the countdown continues towards what England captain John Terry is convinced will be a serious assault on the World Cup in South Africa next summer. As Capello rightly stated, it is better to distribute the presents in a friendly rather than in a World Cup encounter, when they could prove fatal, but the lessons must still be learned.

Capello's forgiving mood would have been helped by a second half full of spirit and encouraging cameos - with Jermain Defoe taking top honours with two goals to equalise goals from Dirk Kuyt and Rafael van der Vaart. And his claim about pre-season cobwebs causing England's lapses had some basis in logic, given the unusual timing of this friendly just days before the start of the Premier League campaign. All criticism of England's performance must be placed in the context that this was effectively the end of pre-season preparations for many players.

If that harrowing first half in the Amsterdam ArenA served a purpose, it was to deliver a timely warning that England cannot make a difficult job potentially impossible by gifting possession to teams as technically gifted as the Dutch - especially 20 yards from their own goal. Ferdinand and Barry have been two of England's most reliable performers and men Capello may count on heavily in South Africa, and he will remain confident these were one-off aberrations.

Scotland's World Cup dream was left on a knife edge after they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of an Egil Olsen-inspired Norway.

Gary Caldwell was sent off after 33 minutes and John Arne Riise scored from the resulting deflected free-kick.

Morten Gamst Pedersen drove in the second on the stroke of half-time.

Erik Huseklepp turned in the third and Pedersen fired in a free-kick as coach Olsen's Norway revived their chances of reaching the play-offs from Group Nine.

Defeat means Scotland will probably now need to win their two remaining matches, at home to Macedonia and group winners Netherlands, to make those matches as one of the best-placed runners-up.

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