It is early in the tournament so the complete f**k up by England’s Robert Green may well be forgiven and forgotten – if Fabio Capello gives him another chance that is and doesn’t put him straight on a plane tomorrow morning.
You may not need a crystal ball to imagine that Capello will give David James or Joe Hart a try out in the next England match. The look on his face was enough to leave burn marks on the TV. Aghast is hardly the word. He was like Marlon Barndo in Apocalypse Now – “The Horror, The Horror..”
This was a truly calamitous error from Green and it let the USA back into a game that had been, before that point, pretty much a walk in the park. A simply speculative shot from Dempsey, a give it a go and never mind shot really should have been dealt with ease if not aplomb.
However the keeper had a real oops butterfingers! moment and let the ball slip from his clutches and roll over in to the goal. As if in slow motion. Were we watching Sunday League football? No, goalkeeping there is usually of much higher quality.
The England squad had next to no time to get over from the blow of conceding this shameful goal as the half-time whistle was blown shortly after.
It has to be said in the goalkeeper’s defence that he went some way to making up for the screw up in the first half when he produced a near perfect save to deny Dempsey (wax figures of whom are available at our online shop), Green pushed the ball wide of goal.
Second chances, anyone?