A goalkeeping howler from England’s Robert Green gifted the United States a 1-1 draw in an otherwise uninspiring 2010 World Cup Group C opening clash at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Saturday night.
The bad goalkeeping blunder earned Clint Dempsey a soft equaliser. The West Ham United keeper fumbled the American midfielder’s innocuous looking shot and the ball trickled into the
net five minutes from the break. England have suffered from inconsistent goalkeeping over the past few years and Green compounded this problem on Saturday night.
The stadium was awash with St George flags, which far outnumbered the Stars and Stripes in the near capacity crowd of 38 646. The US have bought the most tickets for the World Cup finals of any of the participating teams but they were outnumbered by the vocal England fans — who appear to have adopted the vuvuzela. They trumpeted every England move but failed to inspire the scrappy outfit that failed to get going against the hard running and well organised American outfit.
England looked the better side in a tense opening 45 minutes. Captain Steven Gerrard planted the ball past US keeper Tim Howard in the fourth minute after the Liverpool star latched on to a tremendous through ball from Emile Heskey. But that was as good as it got for the England supporters.
The US battled to get going after the setback. Their first effort on target came from Dempsey in the 11th minute but Green had little trouble smothering the Fulham midfielder’s shot. US striker Jozy Altidore headed wide from a Landon Donovan cross in the 19th minute as the Americans started getting their second wind, but they never looked like troubling the English defence during this period.
The US had another scare in the 20th minute when Aaron Lennon’s shot was booted off their goalline by defender Jay DeMerit. Then England superstar Wayne Rooney — who had a quiet first half — had a shot deflected for a corner a minute later.
Altidore headed wide from another good looking Donovan free kick on 27 minutes. Howard injured himself when he bravely dived at the giant Heskey’s feet to prevent the Aston Villa striker latching on to Glen Johnson’s well-directed pass into the US penalty area in the 29th minute. During the lull when Howard was being treated England head coach Fabio Capello pulled out James Milner for the quicker and more skilful Shaun Wright-Phillips.
The ever dangerous Donovan was fractionally wide of the target in the 38th minute. Then two minutes later came Green’s horrible howler that silenced the England fans and gave the Americans a lifeline in the 40th minute.
Lennon sent in a tremendous cross from the byline that foxed the hard-working American defenders but there was no England player to attack the ball as it sailed past the gaping goalmouth three minutes into the second half.
Heskey missed one of the best chances of the night in the 53rd minute when he found himself in a one-on-one situation with Howard. The England striker showed no patience and fired his shot straight at the American keeper.
Howard pulled off another stunning save in the 63rd minute as he fisted a Frank Lampard pile-driver over his crossbar.
Green made amends for his earlier mistake when he denied Altidore a goal with a fine save on 65 minutes. A despairing flying header from an-out-of sorts Rooney went wide of the US goal in the 71st minute.
The England fans tried hard to lift their team but the players failed to respond. Howard pulled off another class save from a fiercely struck shot from Wright-Phillips in the 75th minute as England tried to salvage the game. The US failed to buckle and held on for a deserved point. – Sapa