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Fabio Capello has played down the damage done to England’s World Cup campaign by the blunder from goalkeeper Robert Green that handed the United States a point in their group C opener.
Green let in an innocuous 25-yard shot from Clint Dempsey to gift the Americans a 1-1 draw after new captain Steven Gerrard had got England’s tournament off to a dream start with a well-worked fourth minute strike in Rustenburg on Saturday.
Capello declined to assure Green that he would be in goal for England’s second match, against Algeria in Cape Town on Friday, but he insisted there were positive aspects to his side’s display.
“I think we played a good match, we created a lot of chances to score goals,” the Italian said. “The team tried to go forward all the time.
“I don’t think the result is okay for us because we played better than the USA but this is football. We have to accept the result and we are looking forward to the next game.”
“I am not happy with the result but I saw, another time, the spirit of England, the spirit of the team, because we fight every time to win back the ball.
“I am not worried for the next game about the phsyical condition because we ran a lot and in the second half we were much better than the US, and usually they are a team that run a lot and press a lot.”
Capello said Green had earned his place in the side on the strength of his displays since displacing the more experienced David James as his number one.
“He made one mistake but in the second half he made also a good save. This is the problem of the goalkeeper. I will speak with him and then we will decide what we will do.”
Despite the head coach’s upbeat tone, the reality is that England will now go into the Algeria match under considerably more pressure to take three points than they would have been if Green had been able to gather Dempsey’s tame 40th-minute shot.
Capello will be without Tottenham centreback Ledley King for that match, who had to go off at half-time here with an adductor muscle problem, although England’s midfield should be bolstered by the return of Gareth Barry, who was not risked on Saturday having only just recovered from an ankle injury.
James Milner, who came into the side as a result of Barry being ruled out, lasted only 30 minutes before Capello substituted him for fear he would be sent off after earning a booking for a foul on American full-back Steve Cherundolo.
Green said he hoped to retain the gloves for the Algeria match and insisted he would not let such a high-profile error shatter his confidence.
“I’m 30. I’m a man. I’m strong enough to take it and move on and be ready for another game if selected,” the West Ham goalkeeper said. “I have no excuses. It’s time to get on with it. That’s life.”
“The approach is not to let it affect you for however many more you play,” Green said. “That’s why you prepare mentally. It’s something where you’ve got to hold your head high, hang in there and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
England went ahead with their first real attack with a move that was slick but facilitated by slack American defending.
An unmarked Frank Lampard was able to play the ball to Emile Heskey on the edge of the area and the Aston Villa striker was equally unchallenged as he turned the ball into the path of Gerrard, who surged into the box and prodded the ball past Tim Howard.
The United States responded well but England retained control of the match until Green’s 40th-minute blunder.
Gerrard was partly culpable, having allowed Dempsey to twist away from him on the edge of the area.
But as Green acknowledged, there could be no excuses for the goalkeeper allowing the ball to spin off his right glove and over the line.
Heskey squandered a chance to restore England’s lead by firing straight at Howard shortly after the break but it was the Americans who had the best opportunity to win the match.
Landon Donovan released Jozy Altidore whose close range strike was touched on to the post by Green.
US coach Bob Bradley admitted he was glad to get the opener out of the way after all the hype in the build-up.
“We showed some nerves at the start of the match and England made us pay but that forced us to get going,” he said.
“It was a big game, a big night and we take away a lot of positives as we get ready for the next game against Slovenia.”
Meanwhile, Britain’s Sunday newspapers blasted Robert Green for the goalkeeping blunder that cost England a victory in the opening World Cup game against the United States.
The weekly press printed frame-by-frame images of Green’s error, with the front pages of the News of the World and the Sunday Mirror both reading “Hand of Clod”, accompanied by a giant picture of Green.
Any England goalkeeper guilty of a clanger is given merciless treatment by the national newspapers, with international careers usually then brought to a shuddering halt.
David Seaman, David James, Paul Robinson and Scott Carson can all testify to that.
Green was not spared.
“Cock-up keeper Green wrecks dream start,” said the News of the World, adding: “Stars and tripe”.
“It’s back to the drawing board after this, with Capello forced to reconsider his options after Green’s mistake.”
“Tainted Glove”, said the Sunday Mirror. “Worst Howler Ever”, said another headline.
“Calamity keeper Robert Green gifted one of the all-time blunder goals last night as the jinx of the England goalies struck again.
“Hapless Green somehow managed to parry the softest of soft strikes into the goal behind him. It was agonising to watch.”
The editorial said: “Poor Robert Green will take a long, long time to live down the goal.”
The Sunday Express meanwhile said of Green that “for all our sakes, he’s got to go – now.”
The Sunday Telegraph said Green’s howler had “cost England dear”.
Former England defender Graeme Le Saux wrote that if England manager Fabio Capello was to axe Green, “he may as well send him straight home.
“He will certainly not play again in this tournament, and that could even be the death knell for his international career”.
The Mail on Sunday said it was a “nightmare start”.
“There was endeavour aplenty and flashes of quality but a fragility remains at the core of the side,” it added.
“The calamitous goal which will threaten the international future of goalkeeper Robert Green was a catastrophe.”
The Independent on Sunday said it was “one of those frustrating opening games the country often produces after all the build-up to a major tournament”.
“An improvement will be required in the second game in Cape Town on Friday against Algeria.”
The Sunday Times referenced the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, saying Green’s error was “one disastrous spill the Yanks won’t complain about”.
It was a “howler that will haunt him for the rest of his career”.
The broadsheet compared Green to a “pub cricketer misfielding on the boundary.
“A scrappy, uncomfortable draw against the second-ranked side in Group C may not stop Capello’s men topping it but it is hard to see England going too far in the knockout rounds if they fail to improve.”
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