USA Ties England in Its First Game at 2010 World Cup

The World Cup is officially underway for the US Men's National Team as they open the tournament against England. England took a quick lead in the 4th minute on a goal by English captain Steven Gerrard. There was a scare for the Americans when Tim Howard took a boot to his chest on a England scoring chance. Fortunately, Howard is still in the game. Clint Dempsey scored the equalizer in the 40th minute on a ball that should have been stopped by English keeper Robert Green. Green nearly had the shot in his possession, before the ball bounced off of him and into the goal.

Update: After the high-scoring first half, neither England or the United States were able to score in the second half. The 1-1 tie, a moral victory for the United States, who entered the game as underdogs and had some shaky defense at times during the match. Despite the lapses, the defense was able to keep Wayne Rooney in check (no Wayne babies in England yet). US keeper Tim Howard was named the man of the match with 5 saves and a kick to the body.

The next game for the United States men is Friday at 10AM against Slovenia in Johannesburg.

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By tien mao in News on June 12, 2010 4:30 PM

Comments [rss]

r1b2

Another reason soccer is so slow to catch on here is that it doesn't produce the necessary highlights for Sports Center the next morning. It's like particle-wave theory. Baseball, football, etc: individual plays, individual moments (particles), any and all of which lend well to highlights reels. Soccer, constant continuous flow, a wave, with no clear delimiters for the highlights reels.

palndrom23

re: PKMKII — agreed. it's just frustrating to invest so much time and energy in a game and it can still come up a draw. although, oddly this rule changes for the finals...

and yes, i don't understand most of the rules of "football"...

jaycjay

"it's just frustrating to invest so much time and energy in a game and it can still come up a draw."

Same thing can happen in American football. There's an overtime period, but if a team doesn't score the game's a tie. Same thing used to be true in hockey.

"although, oddly this rule changes for the finals..."

Not at all hard to understand. This round of "group play" is akin to a regular season in the sports you usually watch. The teams with the best results in each group advance to the next round, just like an NFL team posting a better record than the other teams in its division to make the playoffs.

Starting with the next round, one team from each match advances, again like the NFL playoffs. So there has to be a single winner each tiime.

Kingpin

Drawing 1-all with a lucky fluke of a goal for America is a "moral" victory? Talk about low standards.

jaycjay

It's much more than a moral victory, actually. It's a significant achievement that goes a long way towards putting the team in position to move out of the group. That's all that matters in this round.

redhookreject

not really... its a point. and a point against the best team in the group. It puts them is a decent position to advance. and if England and the USA both beat Slovenia and Algeria it comes down to goal difference... which could mean a game v Ghana or Germany.

The first match of the World Cup is always the most nervy.

redhookreject

you morons with the game is too slow... ever watch American football? they play for 5 seconds stop for 40, then every 4 plays or so you wait three minutes while your blasted with adverts.

You don't understand the game, thus its boring. Any Brit will say baseball is boring because they don't get it.

and the commentators where Martin Tyler and John Harkes. Tyler is one of the world's best and it was a major coup for ESPN to snag him. John Harkes is an American football legend having over 90 caps for the US National Team. I think ESPN did a fantastic job.

PKMKII

The issue most American sports fans have with soccer isn't that it's slow, it's that often there's a lot of action for naught. At least in American football, every play usually moves the ball one way or another. Watching the France v. Uruguay match was like watching people run laps.

jaycjay

" At least in American football, every play usually moves the ball one way or another."

As it does in soccer. The ball is constantly moving one way or another, and the dynamics are constantly changing.

There are many plays in an American football game in which the possibility of a team scoring or advancing the ball significantly are very slight, as there are in soccer. But a big play can happen at any time in either game. Learning how to spot those possibilities is what makes watching either game interesting.

There are plenty of people who find the NFL boring. For the most part, they're people who haven't bother learned the intricacies of the game. Same thing.

Noreaster76

+1

Seriously. Give me World Cup soccer any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.

npfiii

"Tim Howard took a boot to his chest on a British scoring chance"

British scoring chance? English, surely...

I think you'll find Scotland, Wales and Ireland were American by proxy tonight.

PKMKII

I think Ireland is rooting for whoever is playing against France.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

This game is too slow for me, might have to head out and return tonight to watch tits on a stick DeborahLee.

longacre

Where'd they get these commmentators? They sound like they work in a funeral home. Between these losers and the stupid non-stop horns this coverage is guaranteed to put Americans to sleep, including myself. Seriously awful.