Robert Green and Guille Franco were two of the stars of the show as England defeated 3-1 Mexico in a 2010 FIFA World Cup warm-up at Wembley.
The West Ham United pair were heavily involved in the match before being replaced at half-time, but neither Matthew Upson nor Scott Parker were called into action.
Green did his chances of being named as manager Fabio Capello's No1 goalkeeper in South Africa by making two superb saves to deny Arsenal striker Carlos Vela.
However, the Hammers stopper was powerless to prevent Franco from scoring with his final touch. The 33-year-old was in the right place to stab the ball through the legs of Leighton Baines after the Everton full-back had only half-cleared FC Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez's goal-bound header.
FIFA 2010 WORLD CUP I ENGLAND NATIONAL TEAM
Earlier, Franco had fired one effort narrowly wide before England took a two-goal lead through Tottenham Hotspur duo Ledley King and Peter Crouch.
King, making his first England appearance since facing Estonia in Tallinn on 6 June 2007, nodded the ball past Oscar Perez after Crouch had headed Steven Gerrard's left-wing corner back into the danger zone on 17 minutes.
Twelve minutes later, Green was called into action for the first time, excelling to deny Vela after Baines and King had both failed to cut out a long ball forward.
The goalkeeper was wearing an anxious look a little more than 60 seconds when PSV Eindhoven defender Carlos Salcido's right-foot curler clipped the outside of the far post on its way out.
Within three minutes, England were two goals up, but Crouch's goal should not have been allowed to stand.
Gerrard's cross was met by Rooney, whose header was pushed onto the crossbar by Jaguares du Chiapas goalkeeper Perez. The ball looped high into the air, allowing the tall striker to run in from an offside position to divert the ball into the net from less than a yard with his right arm.
Green showed superb concentration a minute later when Vela broke clear again, blocking the youngster's low shot with his left hand.
Into added-time and Argentine-born Franco, who had enjoyed a busy opening half, pounced to score his seventh goal in 21 appearances for his adopted nation.
The striker was the first Hammer to appear against England at Wembley since Slaven Bilic lined up for Croatia in a goalless draw on 24 April 1996 - two-and-a-half months after the defender had arrived from German club Karlsruher SC.
During the half-time break Stephanie Moore, the wife of 1966 World Cup winning-captain Bobby, received a cheque for more than £29,000 from England legend Bobby Charlton for the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.
The money was raised after £1 was donated for every official matchday programme sold at the recent FA Cup final between Chelsea and Portsmouth.
Into the second half and an attractive friendly international continued to produce exciting moments - none more so than Academy of Football graduate Glen Johnson's exquisite 47th-minute goal.
The Liverpool right-back swapped passes with Theo Walcott before slaloming his way through the Mexico defence and curling a magnificent shot into Perez's top left-hand corner.
While Green and Franco caught the eye, neither Upson nor Parker were called to climb off the substitutes bench by Capello, who will name his final 23-man squad following Sunday's final warm-up friendly against Japan in Graz, Austria.
Monday's match was the ninth time England had faced Mexico, and the sixth time they had beaten the Central Americans.
After losing the pair's first meeting in Mexico City in May 1959, the Three Lions bounced back to defeat Mexico 8-0 in May 1961.
Five years later, Moore captained a side that also included Martin Peters ad England won 2-0 at Wembley in their second group-stage fixture at the 1966 World Cup. Moore, Peters and Geoff Hurst all started a goalless draw at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in front of 105,000 fans in June 1969.
The last time the pair met in a World Cup warm-up match was in May 1986, when England defeated the hosts 3-0 in Los Angeles.
Bobby Robson's squad went on to reach the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Diego Maradona's Argentina, and Capello will hope his side can improve on that showing in South Africa.
England tackle Japan on Sunday before beginning their World Cup campaign when they face the United States in Rustenburg on 12 June. Capello's men complete their group-stage fixtures by takingn on Algeria and Slovenia.