England takes on USA on 12 June at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg in their opening match of FIFA World Cup 2010. The Three Lions are one of the pre-tournament favorites and have to deal with huge expectations, while USA is looking to replicate their impressive form that they displayed in the Confederations Cup 2009.
Time
The match starts at 18:30 GMT (20:30 local time). In USA, the match begins in California at 13:30 (PDT) and in New York at 16:30 (EDT).
Live Score
To get the live score of the match, visit the following link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/7819847/World-Cup-Today-live.html
England’s imperious form shown in the World Cup qualifying round was absent in their recent friendly fixtures. They made sloppy passes and looked shaky. Though they won all of their friendly matches, they had to come from behind against Mexico to win 3-1 and needed two own goals by Japanese players to defeat Japan 2-1.
However, Coach Fabio Capello may not seem to be that much worried as there are some top class players in Terry, Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney who are quite capable of doing the job for England. However, Capello seems to be facing a selection dilemma over his goalkeepers.
There are reports suggesting Robert Green could be England’s no. 1 considering James’ recent injury knock, but it has also been reported that the coach may start Joe Hart due to his guile and impressive show in training. However, Green is most likely to get the ‘Green light’ from Capello.
USA also has good attacking options in Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore. The three pose huge threat for England’s defense whose performance was shaky in the recent friendly affairs. Moreover, USA players would like to capitalize on the fact that England is missing their best holding midfielder Gareth Barry for the match.
This would be interesting to see who Capello deploys in Barry’s role against USA. US defense would also have to go through a tough test against the likes of Rooney.
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