2010 FIFA World Cup

[Who]

Horay! Milner finally gets a ball in and it's a beauty. Tidy finish by Defoe.

England 1 Slovenia 0

[Rondo2287]

Horay! Milner finally gets a ball in and it's a beauty. Tidy finish by Defoe.

England 1 Slovenia 0

USA USA USA

[Who]

Another nice ball from Milner after poor defense from Slovenia. Not closing him hard enough, allowing him to pick and choose his passes. Too worried (wrongly so) about Milner running by them.

[Who]

Rooney drifting further and further back when England don't have the ball. Almost a five man in midfield once Algeria get far enough forward.

England have calmed down since the goal. Had another nice attack. Their overall play has been very uneven though.

[Who]

England -- 5 points
Slovenia -- 4 points
USA -- 3 points
Algeria -- 2 points

Those are the current standings. USA needs to get a goal and win that match to get through to the next stage.

[misha]

Once again a US goal was disallowed by a wrongly offside claim.

[Fafnir]

Once again a US goal was disallowed by a wrongly offside claim.

Again?

[Who]

Oh, great build up play and a lovely through ball by Lampard ... ah no, offside for Rooney. Unlucky. Nice play though.

England have started the second half very well. More composure on the ball. More confidence, more attacking intent. Great start.

[misha]

Once again a US goal was disallowed by a wrongly offside claim.

Again?

For some reason I thought that it also happened vs Slovenia.

[Fafnir]

Once again a US goal was disallowed by a wrongly offside claim.

Again?

For some reason I thought that it also happened vs Slovenia.

The call was a foul not offsides, but yeah they had a clear goal waved off against Slovenia.

[Who]

England have been doing a much better job pressuring the ball and winning back possession.

Still take the odd break from doing their jobs defensively but overall a much better showing in midfield in winning back possession of the ball than in the first two games.

On that last move, Gerrard stole the ball in the final third, played a lovely 1-2 with Rooney to put him through on goal but was too unselfish and made an unnecessary extra pass that killed off the attack. England should be up 2-0.

[Who]

Ah, beautiful long looped pass by Lampard ... puts Rooney clean through on goal, one on one with the keeper, hits the post. Ah, unlucky.

England almost scored on the preceding corner kick with a John Terry header. Good save by the keeper though.

[Who]

Oh, very unlucky from Slovenia. They had three shots in the box but Terry blocked the first, Johnson blocked the second, and the third strike was closed down and forced wide. Great opportunities though.

It all happened because of sloppy passing in midfield. Gareth Barry gave the ball away for the second time in quick succession. He is not the only one, Johnson + Lampard + Gerrard have all made poor passes in their own half and lost possession of the ball in dangerous areas tonight. Slovenia just haven't taken advantage of any of those opportunities. Not until now.

Barry's passing has been poor today. He has more misplaced (simple) passes than anyone else today. Lampard is second but he has made some lovely passes to negate some of that.

[Who]

Barry's passing has been poor today. He has more misplaced (simple) passes than anyone else today. Lampard is second but he has made some lovely passes to negate some of that.

Another bad pass by Barry. Giving away possession needlessly again.

Barry is having a poor tournament. Disappointing. He isn't a natural defensive midfielder and doesn't win back possession of the ball, or eliminate threats, well enough. His main value in that possession is his passing, his ability to control the tempo, direct the play, and be the link between defense and midfield.

If England doesn't get that type of passing from Barry, then he is a liability.

[Who]

USA are in trouble. They are running out of time. Need a goal.