Jeffrey Marcus Rustenburg,june 12 England was ready to celebrate Steven Gerrard,the captain of the national football team,when Robert Green,the goalkeeper,presented himself to be vilified instead. With his team leading the United States by 1-0 after Gerrards goal,Green handed the equaliser,and a 1-1 tie,to the Americans. It was a freak goal, Gerrard said. It could have happened to anybody. But Green will have to face the consequences. His mug shot will be on the cover of unforgiving British tabloids on Sunday,and he will be blamed for a disappointing tie against a scrappy and determined United States team. In the 40th minute,Clint Dempsey received the ball in the centre of Englands third of the field. He spun right,taking Gerrard with him,then left,losing his defender and firing a left-footed shot that bounced twice and seemed to confuse Green. It hit him in the hand and trickled into the goal. Its unfortunate for the goalkeeper, England midfielder Frank Lampard said. If they hadnt scored that goal,there is no way I could see us losing that game. Even the Americans seemed sympathetic. You never want to see that happen to an opposing player, Carlos Bocanegra,the United States captain,said. We feel bad it has to happen to one person,but were happy that we scored. The Americans were outshot by 16-11 and were saved several times in the second half by the stellar goalkeeping of Tim Howard. He turned away dangerous shots from close range by Wayne Rooney,Shaun Wright-Phillips and Rooney again,in quick succession. Brilliant Howard Howards performance only magnified Greens gaffe and overshadowed his quick-witted tie-preserving save on the 20-year-old American striker Jozy Altidore in the 67th minute. Altidore was able to get by Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher on the left wing and rush the goal,shooting low and hard to Greens right. He parried the ball into the post,and it bounced across the goal before it was cleared. After the game,Green was optimistic. At a younger point in my life,it would have affected me more, the 30-year-old said. You turn around and pick the ball up out of the back of the net and say,right,thats happened,lets move on. You dont really kick yourself for the next 50 years. England fans might. The soccer-mad English have mixed feelings about the national team. They are alternately confident about its chances to contend for a title and resigned to the idea that they will be let down in the end. For misfortune to occur so early in the tournament is a bad sign. While it was only the first goal conceded,in the first game,it cost England two points (the team earned only 1 for the tie) and left it on equal footing with the United States. Algeria and Slovenia,the other two Group C teams,will play on Sunday. We have to get behind Rob Green, Gerrard said. Hell make a really important save for us somewhere down the line. If he gets the chance. Green,who had played only 10 times for England before Saturday,was a controversial selection to start over the more experienced David James,who has made 50 international appearances. I want to play in every game I can, Green said. Im proud of playing for the country,and I want to represent them as much as I can. I know Im going to get flak for it,but so be it.
