Green howler costs England two points

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

England 1-1 USA

"Sometimes a forward misses, sometimes a keeper makes a mistake - that's football." - that's how manager Fabio Capello summarised a painful draw for England against the USA.

The match could not have started better when captain Steven Gerrard tapped in an Emile Heskey cross past US keeper Tim Howard with not even four minutes gone on the clock. England fans could not have wished for a better start.

But the Americans did not let that stop them, they kept up the pressure on England and enjoyed most of the possession. England keeper Robert Green did not have much to do as the England back four and their skipper stayed solid and kept tackling continuously and clean.

James Milner's England debut however, ended disappointingly early after half an hour. He was taken off minutes after he was booked and replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Things went from bad to worse for England when one of those full-dreaded disasters for every goalkeeper happened: Aussie Clint Dempsey twisted and turned through the back line and got a low shot through from about 25 yards. It looked like a comfortable take for the England keeper, but somehow the ball slipped off and past Green's gloves and rolled over the line.

He must have seen it happen in slower motion, looking on in horror whilst it passed over the line, just like every England fan. "At half time I walked in, apologised to the lads and moved on." Green recounted after the match.

The second half saw both teams share plenty of possession, chances and pressure between them, both Wayne Rooney and Heskey missing good chances for England and sending Capello into fury on the sideline.

Frank Lampard pulled a good save from Howard with a free kick from about 25 yards out with just under half an hour to go. Just minutes later, US star striker Jozy Altidore outpaced sub-defender Jamie Carragher and fired in a goal-bound shot, for Green to make a fine save to see the ball deflect off the post and go across goal.

For the final ten minutes Peter Crouch came on for Heskey, who showed a fine display as provider but his own shots lacked aim staying off target. But neither side looked like they were going to be able to grab the match by its horns* and take all three points late-on. (*a.k.a. vuvuzelas)

According to Opta statistics, Green made more errors leading to goals than any other player in the Premier League last season. But former skipper John Terry backed the England keeper after the match: "It's one of those things. Mistakes happen and we're in this together. We need to get behind Rob - he's got good friends here."

England can take encouragement from the fact that defending world champions Italy also drew their group match against the US 1-1 back in 2006 and went on to win it. Hopefully, England can gain confidence from that and make similar improvement and progress.

Quotes taken from the BBC website.

England Green; Johnson, A Cole, Terry, King (Carragher 46); Gerrard, Lennon, Lampard, Milner (Wright-Phillips 30); Rooney, Heskey (Crouch 79). Bookings Milner 26, Carragher 59, Gerrard 61. Subs not used James, Hart, Dawson, Warnock, Upson, J Cole, Barry, Carrick, Defoe.

USA Howard; Bocanegra, Onyewu, Cherundolo, DeMerit; Bradley, Depmsey, Clark, Donovan; Altidore (Holden 86), Findley (Buddle 77). Bookings Cherundolo 39, DeMerit 48, Findley 74. Subs not used Guzan, Hahnemann, Spector, Bornstein, Goodson, Beasley, Torres, Edu, Feilhaber, Hercules Gomez.

Match Stats: England-USA

Attempts: 16-12

On target: 9-5

Corners: 8-4

Free kicks: 8-10

Possession: 58%-42%

Man of the match: Tim Howard

Ground: Royal Bafokeng Stadium

Referee: Carlos Eugenio Simon

Attendance: 44,026

Details and stats taken from the BBC website.

2010 World Cup South Africa Countdown

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

With just a couple of days left until the World Cup kicks off in Johannesburg, expectations are high and the nerves in tatters - who will cry tears of joy and glory, whose sobs will be in grief and defeat? We will not know the answer until the final whistle is blown and the competition concludes on the final day on 11 July, but, here are my thoughts and predictions, the winners highlighted bold:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France: Despite their home advantage, I do not think South Africa will be able to contend successfully against the established likes of Mexico and France. Although "les bleus" were lucky to scrape through against the Republic of Ireland, the heartbreaking encounter should have been a good enough wake-up-call for them to make up for the blushes and make the best and most of the competition.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece: Argentina's strong lineup which includes Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and with none other than Diego Maradona at the helm, there is no question about who will top this group. Who will follow them into the last 16 is a tougher one to answer with South Korea's and Greece's success-stories being long, distant memories. I think Otto Rehhagel's men will be able to make the push.

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia: England have had their fair share of scandals and injuries as always before major competitions, but were let-off by a comparatively easy draw for a change and could not have been given a much easier pass into the last 16. The US look stronger than ever though under manager Bob Bradley and captain Landon Donovan. I would not be surprised to see them make this their best competition display and progess yet.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana: This one's my dark horse/shocker-prediction: Having followed Germany's friendlies, dire displays, injury setbacks and crises talks, I think it gives the rest of the group the best chance to capitalise on. Australia have Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill to keep them out and Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell to knock them down and in; whilst Serbia can count on Nemanja Vidic and Milan Jovanovic along the same lines.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameron: The European sides take pole position again with experienced players and strong lineups. World number three Netherlands thrashed their way through the warm-up games in preparation to the competition and I see them continue in that fashion with Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar et al over-filling the scoreboards.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia: The defending world champions are a shadow of the side that won the cup in 2006, but should be able to top the group with their star keeper Gianluigi Buffon, world cup winning skipper Fabio Cannavaro and energy source and runner Daniele de Rossi. Paraguay should follow them into the last 16 with their focal men in attack Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Haedo Valdez.

Group G: Ivory Coast, Portugal, Brazil, North Korea: With Ivory Coast's top striker Didier Drogba out with a fractured arm, the 2006 semi-finalists Portugal and record world champions Brazil should cruise through the group stage. Both sides are star-struck with their lineups including Ronaldo, Simao and Nani; Kaka, Lucio and Robinho, respectively. Finals without those well-established names is unimaginable.

Group H: Honduras, Chile, Spain, Switzerland: Ottmar Hitzfeld had tears in his eyes to see his home country qualify for the world cup and I see this as his best chance to make the dream-come-true get even better. World number one and world cup favourites Spain should be able to yawn and sleepwalk their way through this stage with star men like Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Cesc Fabregas.

So, my European bias sees ten European countries progress into the last 16, joined by four South American countries, USA and Australia. My German bias normally gives Germany the advantage as they have always proven to be successful no matter how miserable their form or display has been. But this time round, under Joachim Löw, I see their luck has run out and I forecast their demise against more competitive and hungry opponents. I am optimistic for England, more than ever, and hope they can enjoy some sweet revenge and success, but am prepared for heartbreaking scenes as always...

Last 16: France v Greece, Mexico v Argentina, England v Serbia, USA v Australia, Netherlands v Paraguay, Denmark v Italy, Portugal v Switzerland, Brazil v Spain

Quarter Finals: Netherlands v Portugal, France v England, Argentina v Australia, Italy v Spain

Semi Finals: England v Portugal, Argentina v Spain

Third Place: Portugal v Argentina

Final: England v Spain