Green’s gaffe leaves England fans seeing red
By Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports Saturday, Jun 12, 2010
Follow Martin Rogers on Twitter at @mrogersyahoo
RUSTENBURG, South Africa – It took just a split second for the ball to skip across the turf and squirm through his fingers, but Robert Green will feel the repercussions for the rest of his life.
The England goalkeeper’s humiliating blunder, which allowed the United States to salvage a 1-1 draw in its World Cup opener, has guaranteed him embarrassment, abuse and heartache from an English public that treats its national team’s performances with a deadly seriousness.
“Green faces a lifetime of ridicule,” said John Cross, senior football writer for the London Daily Mirror. “Everywhere he goes, every time he plays, every time he tries to make a save, people will make fun of him, and remind him of this night.”
England, one of the favorites to lift the trophy, was ahead thanks to Steven Gerrard’s fifth-minute goal at Royal Bafokeng Stadium and looking good to make a winning start to its campaign.
But after 40 minutes USA midfielder Clint Dempsey, under pressure from Gerrard, produced a tame shot from outside the penalty area. It was the kind of strike any self-respecting high-school keeper should have little trouble collecting, but Green incredibly allowed it to slip past him and into the net for the equalizing goal.
With the USA hanging on in the second half with a valiant defensive effort to clinch a draw, Green was transformed from a proud representative of his country into a national scapegoat.
“It’s done, it happened,” said Green. “It’s not something you can allow to affect you. It is about being steady and taking the rough with the smooth, but that’s life as a goalkeeper.”
In truth though, it could take Green a long time to recover. What awaits him first is that he is almost guaranteed to be stripped of his place on the team, with able replacements Joe Hart and David James ready to step in.
The decision over which of the three goalkeepers on his squad to use was one that plagued England head coach Fabio Capello in the days leading up to the clash with the Americans. Even though he refused to admit it publicly, Capello must have spent the latter part of Saturday night ruing his choice of Green.
“I feel bad for him,” said American goalkeeper Tim Howard, who by contrast to Green produced the man-of-the-match performance. “I like goalkeepers like Robert Green, who are not flashy but are steady and consistent. It is an unfortunate thing to happen.”
Immediately scrutiny turned to the official World Cup ball, the Adidas Jabulani, which has been heavily criticized by countless goalkeepers at the tournament.
The ball, which Adidas claims is made with unprecedented technology and is the most accurate ever, has been seen to swerve wildly on long-range shots.
USA’s reserve keeper Marcus Hahnemann revealed how he had instructed his teammates to fire away with shots whenever possible, as the ball would mean that making even routine saves was far more difficult than normal.
“I have been saying it all week,” said Hahnemann. “I’ve told the guys to just shoot away because you never know what that thing is going to do. It is crazy. We are going to see some goalkeepers letting in goals that they would never normally concede. That one tonight moved all over the place and it is not entirely his fault.”
The English public is unlikely to cut Green such slack. Green plays club soccer for West Ham in the English Premier League and at every away match next season, and for years to come, he will find himself the subject of remorseless chanting and singing aimed at reminding him of the darkest hour of his career.
England goalkeepers have a painful history of making high-profile mistakes. The international careers of Scott Carson and Paul Robinson were effectively ended by horrendous howlers in recent years.
But neither suffered their fate on such an important stage as this, with the eyes of the world upon them.
“These things happen in football and the thing about this squad is that we rally round,” said James, who could now come into the side for England’s next Group C clash, against Algeria.
“How long will he think about this for? Two minutes. That’s all he should do anyway.”
Kind words, but self-analysis, remorse and an unforgiving nation will mean Green can never forget his moment of humiliation.