England v. United States

England 1–1 United States

ENG – Steven Gerrard (4')

USA – Clint Dempsey (40')

(Photo by Stuart Franklin)

My Take

Talk of this game will begin and end with Robert Green's blunder. I can't disagree that it was a howler (a useful British-ism meaning massive mistake; the Brits know enough about this sort of thing to have come up with a word expressly for it). Green turned what should have been a routine save into a morale-crushing equalizer, and it's likely we'll have seen the last of the unfortunate West Ham man.

But here's the thing: the World Cup turns, many times, on small moments; and Green's was just one among many. To be sure, his gaffe was humiliating, but if you ask Ricardo Clark and the US backline, I'm sure they'll cop to a considerable amount of embarrassment for their criminally bad marking on Gerrard's early goal. 'Keepers' mistakes are magnified, especially when the stakes are as high as this, but I think England's goal owed nearly as much to their opponents' ineptitude as the American's did.

(more after the jump)

In the end, I thought the US team acquitted itself really well. They regrouped after their early lapse, commanded plenty of possession, and found an equalizer—one that might speak more to their effort than their skill but one that counts just the same. I just wish they had pushed harder for the winner. But that may have been a lot to ask in the face of a late-blooming England/Rooney attack. Green's solid save on Altidore's [slight muffed] shot might give him peace of mind, but it won't rescue his entry in annals of football history.

Men of the Match

ENG – Steven Gerrard

Hyperbolic column inches do not a world champion make, and, in a just world, England's inability to produce their expected dominance would dampen expectations. It will not. Don't get me wrong, the English press can be brutal and I'll bet tomorrow morning's headlines are ruthless. But the country will still worship their heroes, and, today, Gerrard earned his adulation with a well timed run and confident finish.

USA – Tim Howard (Robert Green, close runner-up)

The latter 'keeper played an outsize role, but not in the way he'd hoped. The former simply did what was expected of him. Howard overcame a 29th minute rib injury to make several important saves on strikes from Emile Heskey and Frank Lampard. He has a tendency to over-emote, but his defense deserved every syllable of their 4th-minute castigation, and it seemed to do the job. Onyewu, especially, looked solid in the back, which is a big relief for US fans.

Bottom Line

It's a huge result for the US, not least for the psychological boost they'll have earned for overcoming an early deficit (in 2006 they conceded an early goal to the Czech Republic in their opening round game and promptly crumbled to a 3-0 defeat). Having each earned one point for the tie, both England and the US will watch tomorrow's Algeria-Slovenia match looking to spot weaknesses in their opponents' defenses — the winner of Group C may come down to which of today's teams can score more goals.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. For tonight, the Americans should rest well knowing they did what they set out to do against England.