Wembley: Jeering England fans showed more emotion than Fabio Capello.
The captain responded to Hungary's disputed opening goal by scoring twice in a five-minute span of the second half for a 2-1 victory Wednesday night in England's first match since its second-round elimination at the World Cup.
So while South African flops Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole were showered with jeers, cheers were reserved for Gerrard.
"It is always the same. When you score you are good. When you win you are good. When you lose, you are nothing," Capello said. "I think it is not only about my reputation. but we win together and lose together."
There were fewer than 20,000 empty seats in the 90,000-capacity stadium, where attendance was 72,024. Fans were encouraged by Capello to attend -- and boo.
"A lot of criticism had been directed at us saying that we don't care and it doesn't mean anything for us to play for England," Gerrard said. "So I think from my reaction for the first goal, you can see how much it means to myself and the players to be part of this group.
"On the back of the disappointment of the World Cup, there was a lot of pressure on the players to get a win tonight and put a performance in."
England's hopes of rebuilding before qualifying for the 2012 European Championship starts next month looked like they would be derailed in the 63rd minute, when Phil Jagielka sent the ball into his own net. Replays, however, showed the ball didn't completely cross the goal line, reviving memories of Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in the 4-1 loss to Germany in June.
"We showed good character after going a goal down and we stuck in there," Gerrard said.
And the Liverpool midfielder tied it six minutes later from 25 yards, then went around three defenders for his second goal in the 73rd minute. He left to a standing ovation in the 83rd minute when he was replaced by 18-year-old Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, who made his England debut.
"I am happy with the performance. We played well in the first 30 minutes, but the last 10 minutes of the first half were not so good," Capello said. "They were really compact and it was difficult to find space."
Goalkeeper Joe Hart made his first start for England. Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott -- two wingers cut from the 30-man preliminary World Cup roster, were in the starting lineup and showed the pace that was missing when England was ripped apart by a young German side.
Their inclusion also enabled Capello to end his rigid adherence to a 4-4-2 formation in the first half, deploying Rooney as the lone front man in a 4-5-1.
Rooney, who failed to score at the World Cup after a standout season for Manchester United, was ruled offside when he found the net in the third minute after racing onto Gerrard's through ball. Rooney has not scored for England since September.
Lacking sharpness, Rooney was given support in the second half by Fulham's Bobby Zamora, one of four players to make their England debuts in the second half.
Center back Michael Dawson replaced John Terry, while 20-year-old left back Kieran Gibbs came in for the much-booed Cole. Ashley Young replaced Walcott.
