Joe: American pitch was a danger

Joe Cole today hit out at the dangerous pitch on which England beat Colombia 3-2 last night in the final game of their American tour.

Chelsea midfielder Cole, who again looked impressive in a makeshift England team in the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, said: "I am just glad that no-one got hurt.

"I've played on some bad pitches, but this was definitely the worst.

"It was dangerous. When I was warming up before the game, the turf was lifting and you could see the plastic pitch underneath."

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson admitted: "Our players don't like pitches like this."

Defenders Sol Campbell and Wes Brown were both ruled out of last night's game after being hurt in Saturday's win over the United States in Chicago.

There were fears that Campbell could miss the start of Arsenal's preseason programme because of his damaged ankle, but the defender said today: "It's ligament damage but not too bad and I expect to be fit again in two weeks. The problem has been the pitches. It might be fine to play American football on them but not our game."

His place was taken last night by Fulham centre-back Zat Knight, who partnered Chelsea's Glenn Johnson.

Eriksson said: "We have a lot of centre-backs, but Knight and Johnson did well."