Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil)
LINEUPS:
England (442): James, Johnson, A Cole (Carragher 72'), Terry, Upson, Barry, Lampard, Milner (Lennon 62'), Rooney, Defoe (Crouch 83'), Gerard
United States (442): Howard, Cherundolo, Bocanegra, Demerit, Onyewu (Clark 65'), Bradley, Edu (Beasley 74'), Donovan, Altidore, Findley, Dempsey (Buddle 84')
Group C started with a bang as both teams came to win. After Rooney shot England's first chance down the keepers' throat the ball was cleared down the other end where Landon Donovan beat Barry in the air, giving Michael Bradley all the space he needed to pick out Jozy Altidore in the box who finished with aplomb and a 1-0 USA lead.
Neither midfield really got into the game as the match quickly transitioned from defence to attack, especially from England as they would generate several wasteful chances to go into halftime a goal down. A pedestrian fifteen minutes passed after the restart and England finally found a way through. Steven Gerard with a neat trick on the edge of the box gave him time and space to hammer past Tim Howard.
Both defences then pulled their socks up and almost smothered the game but a game-changing substitution and a big miss were still to come. Jermaine Defoe was taken off in the 83rd minute after a poor showing by his standards where he looked quite sluggish at times and his one chance in the first half was scuffed wide of goal. His replacement was Peter Crouch and his height was instantly called into play as, in the first action after he came on, the big man headed goalward fellow substitute Lennon's cross after John Terry had sent the winger away down the touchline.
The game was winding down but, in the final minute of the game, the United States kept pressing and generated the chance the were looking for. Findley and Buddle combined with backheels and flicks to find a wide open Altidore in the six yard box, but David James was quick to react giving the American no space to shot at. With the ball rebounding off the goalies body there was a wide open net for Landon Donovan to aim at but his shot hit the top of the crossbar and flew out of play.
England 2 - 1 United States
Goalscorers:
USA Altidore 10'
ENG Gerard 72'
ENG Crouch 83'
Discipline:
ENG Upson 23'
USA Dempsey 43'
Man of the Match:
ENG Steven Gerrard
| GROUP C | ||||||||
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Algeria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
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