England's goalkeeper

The English goalkeeper failed to stop the ball in a disappointing shot( draw 1-1). Read about it here:

A howler by goalkeeper Robert Green gifted the United States an equalizer as England struggled to a disappointing 1-1 draw in their opening Group C game at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium yesterday.
England keeper Robert Green

England keeper Robert Green allowing the U.S. goal that evened the score 1-1.


The 29-year-old goalkeeper failed to stop a routine shot by Clint Dempsey after 40 minutes and the ball slipped from his grasp and dribbled across the line after captain Steven Gerrard had put England ahead in the fourth minute.

England made a dream start and took the lead after only four minutes when, from a Glen Johnson throw on the right, Frank Lampard switched the ball infield to Emile Heskey whose angled pass found Gerrard running into space.

A low steered shot with the outside of his right foot from 10 meters gave Tim Howard no chance and Gerrard his 17th goal for England on his debut as their World Cup captain.

Instead of taking control, England drifted into a spell of unconvincing play and the Americans, sparked by the lively Dempsey and Landon Donovan, enjoyed most possession.

A low shot by Donovan was saved uneasily by Green before the goalkeeper gifted the Americans' an equalizer after 40 minutes.

Capello reacted by replacing King, who has a chronic knee injury, with Jamie Carragher for the second half, which opened with Heskey wasting a good chance by firing straight at Howard.

Carragher, after only 14 minutes on the field, and then Gerrard were booked for fouls as England battled to resist the Americans before a rising left-foot drive by Lampard was saved as the game opened out into a thrilling end-to-end contest.

World player of the year Lionel Messi lived up to his billing yesterday afternoon with a wonderful performance in Argentina's 1-0 win over Nigeria, confirming the South Americans' status as one of the World Cup favorites.

Though he did not score, Messi peppered the goal with shots, drawing a string of finger-tip saves, and tormented the Africans' defense with ceaseless dribbling and incisive passes.

Agitated and shouting on the touchline throughout at Johannesburg's Ellis Park, the bearded and besuited coach Diego Maradona hugged and lifted Messi off the ground in jubilation at the end of arguably the highest quality match of the tournament so far.

In the day's first game, South Korea, who were unbeaten in qualifying, took that confidence straight into the Group B opener at Port Elizabeth. They played a slick and fast passing game to beat the Greeks 2-0, thanks to goals from Lee Jung-soo and Park Ji-sung.

For Greece, unable to capture the form of their shock Euro 2004 triumph or make their aerial superiority count, it was business as usual at the World Cup. Their only previous appearance, in 1994, brought three defeats without a goal.

France managed to keep a clean sheet in their opening World Cup match on Friday, but will only escape another frustrating campaign if they can address a glaring shortage of fire-power up front.

After having conceded a goal in each of their three warm-up games, the 1998 world champions looked tighter at the back in a 0-0 draw against Uruguay in Cape Town, but failed to translate superior possession into scoring chances.