Latest Sport
Football
World Cup Review- Day 2
England goalkeeper Robert Green’s massive blunder cost England a winning start as they were forced to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw against the United States at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg in the opening match in Group C.
The mistake was to spoil the perfect start that England had created through a 4th minute goal from Captain Steven Gerrard, who finished well past Tim Howard in the USA goal.
Despite the early lead, England failed to show any form of dominance as the US edged their way back into the game, but England were able to maintain their slender advantage in relative comfort until the most innocuous of shots 5 minutes before half-time.
There appeared to be little threat when Clint Dempsey chanced his arm with a relatively tame effort from 25 yards out, that was until Green agonisingly allowed the ball to pass through him and slowly roll over the line as if in slow motion, whilst Green attempted to recover the situation in vain. It was a complete shock to the system for England.
England attempted to re-establish their lead with a greater tempo, yet it was the Americans who had the next best chance when Jozy Altidore skinned half-time substitute Jamie Carragher to advance into the penalty area; but Green was to partially redeem himself with an excellent stop by pushing Altidore’s angled shot against the post.
England continued to press for the winner and perhaps should have scored when Emile Heskey shot straight at Howard with only the keeper to beat, illustrating another example of Heskey’s apparent limitations in front of goal.
This proved to be England’s last real chance as they slowly began to tire and run out of ideas, leaving the US relatively satisfied and England with many more questions than answers. Should either David James or Joe Hart come in to replace Green in the England goal? Does Fabio Capello continue with Emile Heskey whose poor goal-scoring record continues to be highlighted? Will Gareth Barry’s retun from injury alter Capello’s thinking about formations?
Capello doesn’t have long to answer these questions as England’s next game is against Algeria on Friday 18th June in Cape Town.
Elsewhere, the opening matches in Group B were completed with victories for both Argentina and South Korea.
Inspired by yet another outstanding performance by Lionel Messi, Argentina claimed a 1-0 victory over Nigeria at Ellis Park, thanks to a Gabriel Heinze header after just 6 minutes. The score-line flattered the Nigerians who were thankful to their goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who made a series of outstanding saves and proved to be the nemesis of Messi on numerous occasions.
South Korea also strolled to a comfortable 2-0 victory against Greece thanks to goals from LeeJung-soo and their Captain Park Ji-sung. Greece produced only 2 efforts on goal in the entire game, which reflected their lack of ambition and belief, whilst South Korea should have won by a greater margin thanks to a highly impressive and athletic display. If they can perform like this against the Argentineans they could potentially cause Messi and company some problems.