JERMAIN DEFOE last night revealed the heartbreak behind his stunning winner for England.
That goal was for my cousin who died in St Lucia. It would have been her (21st) birthday today.
Tottenham striker Defoe came off the bench to smash home in the 80th minute as England secured their first win over Italy since 1977 and got revenge for their Euro 2012 quarter-final defeat to the runners-up.
But Defoe then revealed his personal anguish, paying tribute to his cousin Hannah Defoe, who died in a freak accident in St Lucia last month.
The 20-year-old was electrocuted after diving into a swimming pool while on holiday and distraught Defoe was forced to return home from Tottenham's summer tour of America.
Defoe said: "That goal was for my cousin who died in St Lucia. It would have been her (21st) birthday today.
"It's one of the best I've scored. But the main thing was to get a win. Even if you speak to the lads with more caps than me, every time you play you feel like you want to prove something.
"For a striker it is always important to score a goal and I am obviously delighted I could do that tonight."
Boss Roy Hodgson rang the changes and handed five debuts to his new-look side as they went some way towards making up for their Euro defeat to the Italians in Kiev in June.
Pleased Tom Cleverley, Jack Butland, John Ruddy and Adam Johnson impressed, while Phil Jagielka scored his first England goal in the 2-1 triumph in Berne.
Hodgson will now turn his attention to next month's World Cup qualifier in Moldova and admitted he has plenty to think about.
He said: "I'm pleased. It's the qualifiers that really count, but it's nice to know we have a deeper squad of players than what we took to the Euros.
"Everyone did well. I'm hard pushed to criticise anybody."
Hodgson singled out Defoe for special praise, adding: "His goal was spectacular.
"That is his forte, something he can do. He does it regularly for Tottenham and it was nice to see him doing it for England."