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United States 1, England 1: A Tie Fraught with Threats and Frustration

Jun 12, 2010, 9:00 PM UTC

The moment that mattered most was Robert Green’s horrific mistake.â†µ

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â†µâ†µBut the game as a whole proved that England has enough talent to go far in this tournament, and the United States has the tenacity to advance out of the group stage. Oh, and it was about as tense as an opening game in the World Cup can get.â†µ

â†µâ†µPerhaps neither nation is fully satisfied with the result. This was the best game of this young event, though, and full of the drama soccer fans subsist on.â†µ

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â†µGreen's waking nightmare was a gift for the U.S. (Dempsey said, smiling, "They all count the same when they go in.") and forced England to attack in the second half. And attack the Three Lions did, dominating possession, whipping in crosses, and pressuring the USMNT throughout the last 45 minutes.â†µ

â†µâ†µThey never nosed ahead, partly because of sterling defending from Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMerit, who clung to Wayne Rooney like a fifth shadow—the stadium lights cast four—and mostly because Tim Howard again proved he is one of the world’s best goalkeepers. Nervy saves on deep shots, standing his ground against penetrating runs, and impressive toughness after an early injury: Howard put it all together like he so often does for the U.S., and if he gets competent defending in front of him, he will be tremendously stout in this World Cup. If the defense collapses, as it did on Steven Gerrard’s fourth-minute goal, no amount of Howard heroics will save the USMNT.â†µ

â†µâ†µObviously, the contrast with Green couldn’t be stronger if all one remembers his howler, but the English keeper and defense stiffened in the second half. A brilliant turn and run by Jozy Altidore was extinguished by Green’s patience, and the U.S. as a whole was limited to deep shots that sailed past the net. Sam’s Army might be happy with a point from this game, but the inability to produce good chances—even though a rugged performance by the English back four didn’t make that easy—is troubling.â†µ

â†µâ†µIn fact, English fans should be less worried about their squad in general, except for the uninspiring finishing. Rooney was unable to get to a header, but that’s his lack of height working against him; Shaun Wright-Phillips and Emile Heskey firing shots straight on and wasting chances is symptomatic of the deficiencies for the Three Lions up front, as were the squandered crosses Aaron Lennon created with his fast feet. Everything else, save Green’s mistake, points to England being a tough out in this tournament. They were the better team today, and only misfortune scuttled their chance at three points.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s hard not to like both teams’ chances of advancing from Group C at this point. Each will be favored to beat Algeria and Slovenia. But their first game might be one of the best we see in the group stage, and it was good not in spite of it being a tie, but possibly because of it.â†µ

â†µâ†µThis was high-level, tense soccer, America. Hopefully, more will follow.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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