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Results 2005-2010

Saturday, 12 June 2010
FIFA Sokker-Wȇreldbekertoernooi in 2010 First Phase Group C, Match One

England 1 United States 1 [1-1]
 

Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, Phokeng, Rustenburg, Bojanala Platinum, South Africa
Attendance: 38,646; Kick-off: 8.30pm SAST, 7.30pm BST;
Live on ITV One (UK) - Commentator: Clive Tyldesley

England - Steven Gerrard (twelve-yard poke-in 4 3:32)
United States - Clint Dempsey (twenty-five yard shot, spilled by Green 40
39:37)
Match Summary
England Squad
United States Squad
England - James Milner (26), Jamie Carragher (59), Steven Gerrard (61).
United States - Steve Cherundolo (39), Jay DeMerit (48), Robbie Findley (74).

United States kicked-off. 97 minutes (48 & 49).

 

Match Summary

 

Officials from Brazil

England

Type

United States

Referee (yellow) - Carlos Eugénio Simon
44 (3 September 1965), FIFA-listed 1998.

Assistant Referees - Altemir Hausmann, 41 (5 December 1968) and Roberto Braatz, 42 (3 October 1967)

Fourth official - Eddy Allen Maillet, 42 (19 October 1967), victoria, Seychelles, FIFA-listed 2001.
Fifth Official/Reserve Assistant Referee - Evarist Menkouande, Cameroon
Match Commissioner - Luis Chiriboga, Ecuador
General Co-ordinator - Peter Montopoli, Canada

18 Goal Attempts 13
9 Attempts on Target 4
0 Hit Bar/Post 1
8 Corner Kicks Won 4
6 Offside Calls Against 2
12 Fouls Conceded 14
54% Possession 46%

England Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (26th May 2010) 8th
EFO ranking Group 2

ELO rating 4th

Colours: The 2009 home uniform - Plain white collared jerseys, plain white shorts, plain white socks.
Capt: Steven Gerrard, ninth captaincy. Manager: Fabio Capello, 63 (18 June 1946), appointed 14 December 2007, effective 7 January 2008, 
25th match, W 18 - D 3 - L 4 - F 62 - A 21.
England Lineup
12 Green, Robert P. 30 18 January 1980 G West Ham United FC 11 9ᵍᵃ
2 Johnson, Glen M. 25 23 August 1984 RB Liverpool FC 23 1
3 Cole, Ashley 29 20 December 1980 LB Chelsea FC 79 0
4 Gerrard, Steven G. 30 30 May 1980 CM Liverpool FC 81 17
Gerrard cautioned in the 61st minute for Dissent after a foul on Clint Dempsey.
20 King, Ledley B., injured off 46th min. 29 12 October 1980 CD Tottenham Hotspur FC 21 1
6 Terry, John G. 29 7 December 1980 CD Chelsea FC 61 6
7 Lennon, Aaron J. 23 16 April 1987 RM Tottenham Hotspur FC 18 0
8 Lampard, Frank J. 31 20 June 1978 CM

Chelsea FC

79 19
21
Heskey, Emile W.I., off 79th min. 32 11 January 1978 F Aston Villa FC 59 7
10 Rooney, Wayne M. 24 24 October 1985 F

Manchester United FC

61 24
16 Milner, James P., injured off 30th min. 24 4 January 1986 LM Aston Villa FC 9 0
Milner cautioned in the 26th minute for Unsporting Behaviour for a trip on Cherundolo. He had earlier committed a similar foul on the same player.
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 United States 0
17 Wright-Phillips, Shaun C., on 30th min. for Milner 28 25 October 1981 LM Manchester City FC 32 6
scoreline: England 1 United States 1
18 Carragher, James L.D., on 46th min. for King 32 28 January 1978 CD Liverpool FC 37 0
Carragher cautioned in the 59th minute for Unsporting Behaviour for a foul on Bradley.
9 Crouch, Peter J., on 79th min. for Heskey 29 30 January 1981 F Tottenham Hotspur FC 39 21
result: England 1 United States 1

unused substitutes:

1-David James, 5-Michael Dawson, 11-Joe Cole, 13-Stephen Warnock, 14-Gareth Barry, 15-Matthew Upson, 19-Jermain Defoe, 22-Michael Carrick, 23-Joe Hart.

Coach Fabio Capello played for Italy against England in June (scoring one) and November 1973 (scoring another), and in May and November 1976. He also played in the 10-0 victory over United States in April 1975.
 

 4-4-2

Green -
Johnson, Terry, King
(Carragher), Cole -
Lennon, Lampard, Gerrard, Milner (Wright-Phillips) -
Rooney, Heskey (Crouch).

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 27.8 Appearances/Goals 45.6 7.0

 

United States Team

 

Rank:

FIFA (26th May 2010) 14th
EFO ranking Group 5

ELO rating 20th to 18th

Colours: Made by Nike - Navy blue crew neck jerseys with white sash and red collar/sash trim, navy blue shorts with red side trim, navy blue socks with red tops and white hoop dropping at the rear.
Capt: Carlos Bocanegra Manager: Robert Bradley, 52 (3 March 1958), appointed 8 December 2006.
United States Lineup
1 Howard, Timothy M. 31 6 March 1979 G Everton FC, England 52 0
15 DeMerit, Jay M. 31 4 April 1979 CD Watford FC, England 20 0
DeMerit cautioned in the 48th minute for Unsporting Behaviour for handball.
3 Bocanegra, Carlos M. 31 25 May 1979 LB Stade Rennais FC, France 80 12
4 Bradley, Michael S. 22 31 July 1987 CM Borussia VfL 1900 Mönchengladbach, Germany 44 7
5 Onyewu, Oguchialu C. 28 13 May 1982 CD AC Milan, Italy 55 5
6 Cherundolo, Steven 31 19 February 1979 RB Hannoverscher SV von 1896, Germany 61 2
Cherundolo cautioned in the 39th minute for Unsporting Behaviour for a foul on Wright-Phillips.
13 Clark, Ricardo A. 27 10 May 1983 CM Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany 30 2
8 Dempsey, Clinton D. 27 9 March 1983 RM Fulham FC, England 63 19
17 Altidore, Josmer V., off 86th min. 20 6 November 1989 F Villareal CF, Spain 26 9
10 Donovan, Landon T. 28 4 March 1982 LM LA Galaxy 124 42
20 Findley, Robert, off 77th min. 24 4 August 1985 F Real Salt Lake 7 0
Findley cautioned in the 74th minute for Unsporting Behaviour for a late sliding tackle on Gerrard.
United States Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 United States 1
14 Buddle, Edson M., on 77th min. for Findley 29 21 May 1981 F LA Galaxy 4 2
11 Holden, Stuart A., on 86th min. for Altidore 24 1 August 1985
born in Scotland
M Bolton Wanderers FC, England 15 2
result: England 1 United States 1

unused substitutes:

2-Jonathan Spector, 7-DaMarcus Beasley, 9-Hérculez Gómez, 12-Jonathan Bornstein, 16-José Francisco Torres, 18-Bradley Guzan, 19-Maurice Edu, 21-Clarence Goodson, 22-Benny Feilhaber, 23-Marcus Hahnemann.

Coach Bob Bradley is the father to midfielder Michael Bradley
 
4-4-2 Howard -
Cherundolo, DeMerit, Onyewu, Bocanegra -
Dempsey, Bradley, Clark, Donovan -
Altidore
(Holden), Findley (Buddle).

Averages (Starting XI):

Age 27.3 Appearances/Goals 51.1 8.9

 

 

Match Report by Mike Payne

Well, we never said it was going to be easy did we?  The tournament begins for England and begins in a familiar way for the fans in the stadium, and those up and down the country.  At the end of a fairly even match we can look back on quite a few positives and also a few negatives.

The match started superbly with England looking sharp and confident and Emile Heskey looking dangerous.  It was his brilliant pass from Frank Lampard's touch inside in the fourth minute that sent the whole of England wild with delight.  The pass found Steven Gerrard, rampaging into the box in his best Liverpool mode, and tucking the ball past Tim Howard.  Liverpool 1 Everton 0!!  It was just the start England wanted and fittingly it was their new skipper who provided the moment.  For a while it rattled the Americans and the omens looked good for England.  They were keeping possession well and created other chances.  But the Americans are no pushovers these days and the well-organised and hard working players shut the England players down very well and gradually they clawed their way back into the match.  On a narrow pitch, it suited them and Aaron Lennon was struggling to find any width and room to use his speed.  Wayne Rooney was tightly marked and it was Heskey who gave the U.S.A. defenders their most difficult challenge.  All credit to the Aston Villa player, who has taken plenty of criticism of late.  Nobody could fault his play on this night.

As the game progressed it was noticeable that James Milner was struggling with his fitness and a booking for a late tackle showed up his lack of match sharpness.  It came as no real surprise when Milner was substituted after 30 minutes by Shaun Wright-Phillips.  By this time too, the Americans were pushing England back too deep for Fabio Capello's liking and they looked particularly dangerous from set pieces or when crosses came into the box.  They should have had an equaliser when Altidore met Landon Donovan's cross, only to head wide when he should have scored.  It was a warning that England didn't really heed and several times the USA threatened from crosses and many hearts were in mouths.  At the other end England also created chances, most notably when Glen Johnson broke through to fire a shot that Howard saved down to his left.

Then, in the 40th minute came a moment that England, and particularly Robert Green, will quickly want to forget.  England's midfield was sloppy in allowing Clint Dempsey the time and space to turn several times before firing in a low speculative shot from around 25 yards.  It was surely an easy save, but no, Green allowed the ball to evade his attempted two-handed block and it crept over the line for an awful goal.  Fulham 1 West Ham 0!!  The England fans have certainly had to endure their fair share of these calamitous goalkeeping moments over the years, that's for sure, and always it would seem in crucial games.  As the England players trooped off at half-time there were more than a few heads down.

Worryingly Jamie Carragher had to come on for the injury prone Ledley King at half-time as Capello's problems mounted, but to be fair, after the restart England looked bright again and pushed forward more positively.  Gerrard and Lampard were both playing well and the skipper was trying hard to drive his team on.  In the 52nd minute England should have taken the lead.  The ball broke to Lennon and his early pass sent Heskey in on goal.  The one overriding criticism of Heskey as an England player is that he doesn't score enough goals, and sadly he endorsed that criticism by shooting straight at Howard who made an easy save.  It was a shame for Heskey as he had certainly been one of England's better players on the night.

The Americans did not seem to be troubling England at this stage of the game but then on 64 minutes Altidore made a strong run down the left, powering past the labouring Carragher.  For a split second it looked as though Carragher, who had just been booked, was going to hold the USA forward back.  Luckily for the Liverpool player Altidore was too quick and strong for him.  Altidore bore down on goal and fired at Green's near post.  Luck was on the keeper's side this time however as his strong hand managed to push the ball on to a post and away from danger.  Phew!

That was the Americans last clear chance but at the other end England looked as though they could snatch a winner.  Rooney, who had a poor game by his standards, suddenly whipped in a cracking long range shot that just swerved away from Howard's left-hand post.  The Manchester United player then teed up Wright-Phillips with another golden chance as the winger came in from the left.  Sadly his shot was weak and straight at Howard, who was again able to make an easy save.

Both sides seemed content with a draw as the final five minutes ticked away, although if anything the USA looked a little stronger in those latter stages.  Peter Crouch had come on as a late substitute for Heskey and Lennon put in a dangerous low ball to Rooney when Crouch was at the far post unmarked.  That was just one of several wrong decisions on a night of extreme frustration for England fans. 

Do you think we should be used to it by now?  It certainly doesn't get any easier as the years roll by.  Never mind, a win over Algeria next Friday will cheer everyone up again.  As Dr Livingstone might have said, 'Algeria Stanley, who are they?'.

Source Notes

BBC Sport
TheFA.com
ITV.com/football
FIFA.com
US Soccer
Mike Payne - football historian and contributor

____________________

CG