England, Europe, Features, Ian John, Regions, World Cup 2010 POSTS

Rob-bed Green

Published by Ian John on June 13, 2010

Being an England fan can be an intensely frustrating experience at times. Despite the ability and talent our players possess, we continually fail to achieve what we should be capable of at international level. Occasionally this has been down to bad luck, occasionally poor management, occasionally poor performance by the team but most of all it comes down to crass individual errors.

So what a surprise last night was eh?

The first balls up of Olympian magnitude came from the broadcaster of the game here in the UK, ITV. With the country having gone “High Definition” mad over the past few years, we all tuned in with our new TV’s switched to ITV HD to watch the opening exchanges of the game. England won a throw in down the right after four minutes and just as they were about to take it, we were shown the credits for an advert break and an advertisement for Hyundai.

Confused? That isn’t the half of it. I had only been joking about 30 seconds previously that the game was going to have to be split into 5 minute sections to allow the American advertisers to peddle their wares. After looking around at each other somewhat blankly as Hyundai informed us of their new car… We switched the TV channel over to the normal ITV station to see the final throes of Steven Gerrard’s goal celebration.

Our delayed reaction to cheer somewhat allayed our initial annoyance with ITV. However that would not prove to be the biggest annoyance in the first half. Much to the relief of ITV chiefs and Adrian Chiles who must have been looking forward to explaining the glitch at half time about as much as a marrow enema.

But thankfully, any balls up ITV can make in their coverage can be matched on the field. And Rob Green didn’t let us down did he? Spilling Clint Dempsey’s tame shot into the net to hand the US an equaliser.

Don’t worry… It’s all part of the special relationship. Our companies dump millions of gallons of oil over the US coastline, we have to throw them a bone by flinging the ball into the net during our World Cup game. Obama was talking to Cameron about it earlier in the day I am sure.

I’m not going to make excuses for Green. That was lamentable but I do think this new World Cup ball is a problem. Not so much for keepers dealing with shots like that (I could have saved that shot using Jedi mind powers alone) but the ball does seem to have a tendency to ‘fly’ a great deal more in the air than other balls we are used to. I have noticed that in all the games passes and crosses are routinely overhit, goal kicks seem to race the length of the pitch and most annoyingly of all “good” passes are too difficult for the receiving player to control. Considering this is the biggest event of all, the fact the ball is so unlike any that players routinely play with is a disgrace. What next? A beachball for the finals in Brazil?

Anyway, the rest of the England performance was ok I thought. We had a few nervy moments and Green made a decent save in the second half to keep the US out on their only chance. In contrast England got into great positions many times but the final ball was lacking or our finishing was poor. Mentioning no names in particular, eh Emile? But I think overall we took control of the game well and dominated for long periods and with a bit more luck, a better ball and a few less nerves, I think we would have won that game.

But it matters not, it is condemned to history. We move on to Friday’s clash with Algeria in the knowledge that this is now a must win game, if it wasn’t already.

I mean what more could go wrong, short of the BBC switching to an episode of “Last of the Summer Wine” as the game kicks off, it can only be better.

Image Courtesy of ***wonker*** on Flickr.com

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