WORLD CUP: England 2, Trinidad 0

NUREMBERG, Germany, June 15 (UPI) -- Peter Crouch and Steven Gerard scored late goals Thursday, giving England a 2-0 World Cup victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

Crouch's score came in the 83rd minute while Gerard's shot was in the 91st, providing goals that assured England, 2

It was the second less-than-sterling effort from England, which defeated Paraguay 1-0 on an own goal in its opener, but it still spoiled a second strong game from Trinidad goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.

Hislop faced 18 shots in helping his team to a 0-0 draw with Sweden and had seen 20 shots from England before Crouch's goal with about seven minutes to go.

David Beckham kicked a crossing pass toward Crouch, who leaped and headed the ball back to the right for England's first score of the game. England seemed to find itself then and kept the pressure on, capping the game with Gerard's hard left-footed drive into the left side of the goal.

England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, helped by keen defensive plays from John Terry, had his second consecutive shutout.

Trinidad and Tobago wrap up Group B play Tuesday against Paraguay in Kaiserslautern. England and Sweden, which looked to be a key game in the group before the World Cup opened, play Tuesday in Cologne