Well we didn't end up live-blogging from the House of Blues but Shimer and I, along with a huge crowd, took in the U.S.-England game and I'd say that it lived up to the hype.
It ended in a 1-1 tie and that's probably the way it should be; the U.S. had the run of play in the first half and England had a bunch of nice chances in the second half that they couldn't put in the goal.
The biggest things to take out of this are a) how bad England's goaltending situation must be and b) conversely how Tim Howard is on the short-list of the top keepers in the world.
It was a dream start for the Three Lions as captain Steven Gerrard (Liverpool stud, one of my biggest man-crushes so I ain't mad at him) scored in the fourth minute. He blew by midfielder Ricardo Clark and took a nice slotted ball by washed up striker Emile Heskey before hitting it with the outside of his right foot. It was a cool finish by one of the best midfielders in the world.
After the goal, the U.S. defense tightened up and it paid off when they scored what will go down as one of the biggest blunders not only of the 2010 World Cup but also in World Cup history.
Robert Green, West Ham's goalkeeper, was the top choice of coach Fabio Capello. You can blame Capello but when your other options are David James and Joe Hart, it's like trying to fit 20 pounds of shit into a 10 pound bag.
Clint Dempsey hit a pretty innocent left footed shot from outside the box but Green fumbled it and then somehow it squirted over the line. Tie game in the fortieth minute.
Howard made a couple Grade A stops although he was helped out by English players who couldn't have hit it in worse spots. In the second half, Aaron Lennon got a partial breakaway but fired low and hard right into Howard's chest.
Later, Shaun Wright-Phillips got an opening but put it right in Howard's hands.
It was a rough game with both teams picking up three yellow cards: James Milner (who was subbed out in the first half), Jamie Carragher (who was a second half substitute) and Gerrard for England and Robbie Findley, Cherundolo and Jay DeMerit.
The US had some counterattacking chances but they only really did much with one of them: Jozy Altidore blew by his defender on the left side, cut to give himself a better angle then hit a shot that was saved by Green then deflected off the crossbar.
Bob Bradley's boys did exactly what they needed to do in the first game and most importantly, all the pressure will continue to build on England and Green.
Algeria and Slovenia, the other much lesser known teams in Group C, play tomorrow morning (7:30 a.m.) so it'll be interesting to see how those teams play.
Next Friday, in their next matches, the U.S. plays Slovenia at 10 a.m. and England meets Algeria at 2:30 p.m.
England United States
18(6) Shots (on Goal) 12(4)
12 Fouls 14
8 Corner Kicks 4
5 Offsides 2
57% Time of Possession 43%
3 Yellow Cards 3
0 Red Cards 0
3 Saves 5
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