Well. Not the winning start we would have all liked or indeed envisaged. Still, we didn't lose and that was only our first game. Plenty of reasons to be optimistic then right? Well, cautiously so, yes.
England finally kicked off their world cup campaign on Saturday night, in the hotly anticipated Group C opener against the USA. Long before the tournament even got underway, people were saying that the US would be England's toughest opponents. This didn't appear to be the case as within 5 minutes, England had already taken the lead. Steven Gerrard finished off a nice move to slam the ball in the back of the net after a good pass from Heskey. It's the earliest goal to have been scored at the tournament as of yet and shocked not only the Americans, but England supporters too. It seemed the perfect start - after Gerrard's goal, it looked as though the game would be easy for England and there for the taking. All the nerves and tension that had been building up pre-match were gone and all England had to do was carry on the way they had started. Except with England, it's never quite that simple is it?
Infact, now I come to think of it, perhaps it wasn't a great start after all. I mean, England supporters can tell you that it's not very often England get a great early lead as they did. Perhaps this was their downfall. Sometimes, it can be a disadvantage to score early. It means you are never quite sure what to do next, particularly if you are not used to scoring so early on - do you sit back and protect your lead? Or do you continue to attack and kill the game off? It seems that this early goal perhaps made England complacent. Sub-consciously, it may have seemed that the game was now already won, that the USA wouldn't be able to overcome the shock of conceding so early and that there was no real need to push forward and capitalise on the chances that may come England's way. Of course the players would want to kill the game off, but that early lead did look to have adverse psychological effects by my reckoning.
For most of the first half then England enjoyed relative possession of the ball and the better chances of the two but were unable to press any further. It therefore came as a shock when, with only 5 minutes to go until half time, the USA managed to equalise from a nothing shot by Fulham's Clint Dempsey. He took a shot from 25 yards out, not really expecting much. It looked like an easy catch for West Ham's Robert Green, chosen ahead of David James and Joe Hart, but it didn't quite pan out that way. He caught the ball alright, but he also let it slip from his grasp and could do nothing but watch it roll agonisingly pass the goal line, gifting the Americans, a largely undeserved, equaliser. It was actually painful to watch on TV, and everytime they kept showing the replays, it looked more and more worse. You just wanted to jump into the screen and claw the ball back before it rolled away. It is well known, and laughed about, that England do not have the world's best keepers - we have seen plenty of blunders and bloopers before. Still, it did not make this one any less excruciating to watch. But we had 45 minutes left and we hadn't seen the best of England yet. There were definitely reasons to be hopeful despite Green's gaffe.
Capello had already made one substitution during the first half, taking off James Milner and replacing him with Wright-Phillips. Having only just recovered from a virus, Milner was far from his best and it was a wise decision in the end to make the substitution so early on. Ledley King was then substituted off at the beginning of the second half, in place of Carragher, from what appeared to be a groin injury. England managed to create a few chances but could not seem to find a way to rattle the Americans into conceding again. Emile Heskey, again disappointed in the scoring department, after failing to put away Aaron Lennon's through ball early on. Rooney was quiet for most of the game but he did have a shot on goal from distance which forced Tim Howard into a save. Other than that, there were few real chances for England and they just could not seem to find anything different. Crouch came on in place of Heskey with 10 minutes to go but even he, who has saved England late on, on so many occasions, could do nothing to haul England out of their slumber. In my opinion, he came on far too late to affect things. Green, made up for his gaffe (a little anyway) by saving well from Jozy Altidore who had managed to ease past the English defence and take a shot on goal.
All in all a disappointing first performance from England, after having started so well. Still, it's not all doom and gloom. There are 2 more matches left, England have plenty more in the locker and they will not succumb that easily, especially when they know that they have got their best chance to win the tournament, in a long time. Questions were once again raised about England's endurance in this competition, can they really go all the way? Only time will tell. For now, they must forget all about this game and concentrate on the next two vital clashes.
Some injury news: Wayne Rooney missed today's training session due to a slight ankle problem. He got a small knock in the USA game, but should be fine to play against Algeria on Friday.
Not so great news for Ledley King whose tournament looks to be over, after that groin injury that caused him to leave the field early on Saturday night. There are reports that he will have to be out for 3 weeks. If that's the case, then it will leave Capello desperately short at the back, with Rio Ferdinand having already been forced out of the tournament. He still has Carragher, but it will be a massive shame for King whose injury problems have been a source of great discomfort throughout his career.
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