A dreadful blunder by England keeper Robert Green meant England could only draw their opening World Cup match with the USA.
Skipper Steven Gerrard had put Fabio Capello's men into an early lead in Rustenburg when he latched onto a pass from Emile Heskey to finish smartly.
Then disaster struck as Green allowed an innocuous 25-yard drive from Clint Dempsey to slip from his grasp and over the goal-line five minutes before half-time.
Heskey had England best chance after the break but his driven shot was saved by Tim Howard.
And with James Milner, hauled off after half an hour, Ledley King failing to return for the second half and his replacement Jamie Carragher getting himself badly exposed on more than one occasion, it will be an uncomfortable six days for Capello and his players before England try to rebuild their reputation against Algeria in Cape Town next Friday.
Capello's first World Cup as a manager could not have got off to a better start.
Having resolved to start with Green in the problematic goalkeeping position and Milner on the left-hand side of midfield, Capello sat back and waited. Within three minutes he was wearing the broadest of smiles.
Glen Johnson and Frank Lampard were both involved in the initial stages of a move that ended with Heskey doing what he does best, allowing a team-mate to score.
Usually it is with brawn. This time it was the silky touch of a delicate through ball for Gerrard, who had motored into the box.
The new England skipper steadied himself, then tucked a precise finish under Tim Howard and raced away to the far corner flag pursued by a posse of ecstatic white shirts.
England kept creating chances. Lampard and Wayne Rooney tested Howard with a couple of speculative efforts, Steve Cherundolo turned away a teasing low cross from Aaron Lennon and Heskey almost got on the end of a Lennon ball into the six-yard area.
England headache
But for all this, the United States were causing England a major headache.
As so often, Landon Donovan was the architect of their best work, exposing Milner at the same time.
Ill during the week, the Aston Villa man, one of Capello's favourites, was badly exposed and had already been booked for a foul on Cherundolo before he was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Another long-range Donovan effort had Green at full stretch before the moment that will be repeated so often and the West Ham goalkeeper has to live with for the rest of his life arrived.
Dempsey turned Gerrard neatly but was still 25 yards when he took aim.
Green could only bury his head in the ground as he came to terms with a fumbled attempt to save that ended with the ball slipping through his grasp and agonisingly out of reach as it bobbled over the line.
When England returned from an interval that must have included attempting to raise Green's spirits, King had been replaced by Carragher.
But any thought the Liverpool veteran would shore things up at the back was quickly dispelled as first he was booked for a foul on Robbie Findlay, then he was left for dead by Altidore, which at least allowed Green to redeem himself with a fine save as he pushed the American's shot on to the post.
Prior to that, Heskey had failed to beat Howard having been sent through by Lennon.
Heskey also wasted the last of three decent England chances; Lampard and Rooney did much better from much further out with the others as the Three Lions asserted themselves at the end without managing to fashion a winner.
What is your verdict on the performance? Have your say.
England 1 USA 1
June 12, 2010
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Green: 2, Johnson, 3, Terry 5, King 3, Cole 5, Lennon 4, Lampard 3, Gerrard 5, Milner 3, Rooney 5, Heskey 2, Crouch 5, SWP 3, Carragher 4, Capello 3. Poor selection.
Play young HART !!
and WIN the games
Rooney and Gerrrad and Carra played well so did Lampard and Terry , Lennon and , Wright phillps were ok the rest , they need work !!!
COME on England !!
Shame about USA goal but onwards we go.
did USofA team play well or England awful?
People are moaning about the horn-et nests. People everywhere are going down with headaches.
Heskey was good, Lampard did nothing, Gerrard was the most influential player aside from those two another poor performance. Green is garbage Joe Hart is the best we have. Fabio sort it out.
Oh yes. Calamity Green (again) has taken over from Calamity James who should not even be there. Hart must come in now and I do not accept the lack of experience from the so called pundits many who clearly no nowt.
We need Barry or Scholes.
My granma has more pace than Carragher, and why would he start Milner when he had been sick all week,then he plays King with his one leg who can not train ever,they are going no where,a couple of games more then on there way home.
...Gilly...Do you honestly think that Carra and Lampard had good games ????.. In my opinion they were the worse players on the field.. Lamps did nothing and Carragher did less tha nothing , with his complete lack of pace almost costing us even the one point. I thought that the whole England team lacked and again showed that Lampard and Gerrard do not mesh in the same midfield..As for Greene...What can I say??
For goodness sake lets hope Green is on the next plane home,the guy was a disaster,he had a bad game and when players have a bad game they should be dropped.Our strikers arent good enough(can anyone remember Heskey scoring a goal)that leaves Rooney who is going to be marked out of every game,so that leaves us with absolutely nothing.The idea that this team can compete with Brazil or Spain is preposterous.
Great question. USA have nothing to be ashamed about. They effectively closed England down for most of the match. They used, guess what, team work.
JDKSRQ
How I wish that, just once, the England team would prove my pessimism to be wrong. Just after Gerrard scored, I said to my son Mark that England hardly ever dominate a game and take control. For some reason we always look apprehensive and give the other side too much respect. Sure enough, it happened again tonight. Even before Green dropped that clanger, it was obvious that the USA were being allowed too many shots on goal. Marking was awful. I didn`t agree with Capello`s selections as regards several players (including Green and I`m not being wise after the event). Adam Johnson should have gone and for all Heskey had an assist with the goal tonight, what else did he do, apart from waste a golden chance by shooting straight at Tim Howard?
It`s been shown time and again that the Lampard and Gerrard combination just does not work. On tonight`s showing, it`s Lampard who should be dropped. But let`s face it lads, we`ll all have to be real cockeyed optimists to think we have any chance of winning the World Cup, unless a major miracle happens. Playing like we did tonight is a disgrace. Even little South Korea played better attacking football today against Greece. All we seemed to be doing was hit long hopeful balls and often high towards the front men. Garbage football. Rooney hardly had any service. Lennon looked good in flashes but most of his crosses were to his normal standard. SWP was very poor. But why play him on the left? Why didn`t Capello bring Joe Cole on? Ah well, same old...As for those flaming trumpet things buzzing throughout, pass the earplugs someone...
The manager blamed the ball,do us a favour mate,this lot couldnt beat a carpet,for goodness sake bring them home they are an embarrasment to the country.
All these players should be spending 3 months on a beach with their mothers,or playing cricket, sorting their injuries out to give the people who pay their wages something to watch next season-and that is not just England.What are people who play for Hull,or not good enough for Fulham doing out there?
I see Veron is playing for Argentina, and Samaras for Greece,Yakubu for Nigeria,and many more.Torres What is he doing playing?he should be in a sanatorium for the summer.People going through the turnstiles pay their wages.They are entitled to better.
If England do well good,if they don't hard luck,and same for the other countries who employ these mercenaries.
We know their wages are obscene,but that is no reason to destroy their bodies. I am 75 and I have better knees than many of them.
Villa want City to pay £30m for that?
Jamie Carragher should have been sent off with a second yellow card. He clearly took out Findley after being "used". Complete rubbish by the ref... no courage. Carragher looked slow and old.
Green is the worst of the three keepers in the squad, he was always a disaster waiting to happen, I cant believe Capello gave him the nod...
Heskey played really well (the miss one-on-one aside) and doesn't deserve a rating of 2 (JoeUnited, Oslo, Norway)
We played as 11 individuals at times today, we need to play more as a team. Barry coming back in will give us that natural balance and hopefully we'll kick on throughout the tournament... Come on England
One team's blunder is another's gain...Oh well. I guess it's the fault of the way the ball bounced. Stop blaming poor Robert.
Awful awful awful. Clearly shows that for his 6 million per year Capello is clueless. Why would he choose an ill Milner? King injured? Carrgagher too slow. Green useless. Heskey useless, then panick changes. he's clearly an idiot of a coach. Not even mentioning taking Barry, injured, sick note Ferdinadn, in jured, Calamity james injured.
You could pick a selection committee from the Hare and Hounds who could do no worse.
What a shambles get rid of him.
I would have thought that players who get "Capped" would be so thankful for the opportunity and ready to give their all for England. How wrong can a person be? I saw men that are probably the "cream of England", and they played no different than they do in the English "overpaid" Premiership. How is it that Carra was so totally unfit? Rooney was a non-event! This National team should have owned the USA and were lucky to get a draw. Now I know why Donovan is so highly rated and be so effectual in our "top" Premier League.
Apart from the shot straight down Tim Howard's throat, I thought Heskey had one of his best games for England, so credit where credit's due. A very well taken goal by Gerrard, but apart from a half-hearted left footed effort from Lampard, and a decent shot from Rooney just past the post, I can't remember any other decent attempt by an England player, and that doesn't bode well for the remainder of this competition. On a different topic, I wish ITV would stop messing about with their 'look at us, we;ve got a new slow motion action replay machine' every time something happens. We don;t mind these replays when the ball is out of play, or there's an injury, but PLEASE ITV, NOT WHEN THE GAME IS STILL GOING ON. Looks a bit silly now with those capital letters, but never mind!!!
On this form England just might get to the quarter-finals and that will be their lot.
I shudder to think what their performance will be like when Argentina get at them.
Heskey and SWP should be on the next plane home. They both missed excellent chances of wrapping up the game.
Fabio needs to pick a team with a better chance of winning:
Hart, Johnson, Terry, Dawson, J Cole, Lennon, Gerrard, Milner, Rooney, Crouch, A N Other. Even with this team, I have my doubts that they will succeed. Compared with Spain, they are just not good enough.
GS Droylsden
Rubbish. No ability to control the first half.
If the t....... on the pitch had controlled the ball, the USA wouldn`t have had the ball to shoot at a goalkeeper who can`t get his body behind a ball.
But let`s be honest, and I`ve said this a hundred times, England are a sorry bunch of losers. Today it was Green, Heskey and Rooney who were rubbish or lazy. Next big game it`ll be another couple of idiots. It`s the same old thing every world cup.....Seaman, Waddle, Beckham, Rooney, missed penaties, keepers who can `t save one single penalty, rubbish coaches, etc etc, the list is endless..but it all boils down to one thing....England can`t beat anyone in the big games coz they`re just too dumb!
If Gerrard was inspirational God help us, the way Dempsey turned him inside out before the goal was embarassing, Carragher was skinned by Hull's 3rd choice striker and Lampard again showed that without a defensive midfielder to back him up a la Makelele or Essien he's utterly useless....