Fabio Capello praised John Terry's strength of character after the deposed England captain recovered from a nervous start to impose his influence on this contest and help the hosts ease to an ultimately comfortable victory.

Terry had been subjected to boos from a minority of the supporters in the national stadium when his name was read out over the public address system prior to kick-off, and there were some jeers when his first touch was a misplaced pass that sent the ball skidding out of play. Yet, by the end, his confidence had visibly returned as he barked orders to his team-mates, with the barracking long forgotten and England reassured by his presence.

The player was unperturbed by the dissent, born of the allegations over the Chelsea defender's private life that cost him the captaincy last month and has since effectively served to condemn Wayne Bridge to the international wilderness. "There were a few jeers but I can handle that," he said in the aftermath. "Everyone's entitled to their opinion."

His team-mates and manager were impressed with his display, which was devoid of the uncharacteristic errors that undermined his club performances against Everton, Internazionale and Manchester City in recent weeks. "I thought John was superb tonight," said Steven Gerrard, who skippered the side in the absence of the new permanent captain, Rio Ferdinand. "He handled everything well and he showed he is a fantastic player and a great leader for us."

Capello added: "I'm really happy with him, and thank you to the crowd because they supported the team and John Terry. This was one of the most important games for him after the history of what happened off the pitch. He played a fantastic game, like I know he plays always at this level. He showed how important he is for us, yes. When I chose him as captain, I knew the value of this player because he's really important on the pitch."

England had needed a second half revival to see off the reigning African champions, who had led at the interval courtesy of Mohamed Zidan's well-taken goal following Matthew Upson's slip. Capello had been keen to trial the front pairing of Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe prior to the interval, but replaced the Tottenham Hotspur forward with his club-mate Peter Crouch as England trailed 1-0 at half-time, with the substitute making an immediate impact.

The goals subsequently plundered by Crouch have swollen his tally to 20 in 37 international appearances, to strengthen his claim both for a place in Capello's provisional squad, which is to be named on 16 May, and arguably for a starting role at the summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.

"Anyone who plays for England in World Cup year is under a certain amount of pressure," said Crouch. "But you can only try to do your best, and that's what I did. It's up to the manager whether I start or not. All I can do is, when I'm given a chance, try and take it. I hope I gave the manager something to think about tonight."

Asked what Crouch has to do to start more regularly for his country, Capello said: "But if Defoe had scored two goals – and he had two chances – people would have been asking me why I substituted him. Crouch is one of the important players. I've selected him a lot, he's played a lot for me, and he's in very good form. But you have to understand that I wanted to understand what happens with Defoe and Rooney in the first half.

"I know what happens when Rooney plays with Crouch, Carlton Cole or Emile Heskey. For that reason, today it was better [to start with Defoe] in preparation for the World Cup to know whether they can play together. But Crouch is a big option for me. In the second half, he made the difference.

"But I was also happy with the chances that we created in the first half: four chances that were really easy to score. Perhaps in that first half we made some mistakes and, when I spoke with the players at half-time, I told them they had to change something. They did everything [I told them to] in the second half. This game was important for us and we learned a lot about playing North African teams. We play Algeria in the World Cup, and we will be more familiar with their style of play now. This will have been good for us."