World Cup 2010: England goalkeeper David James defends Robert Green after USA blunder

Experienced shot stopper speaks up for team-mate...

By Chris Myson

FIFA World Cup 1010: Robert Green,  England -  USA (Getty Images)
David James has defended fellow England goalkeeper Robert Green after the West Ham man’s disastrous error handed the USA a share of the spoils in their World Cup Group C opener.

England had led thanks to an early goal from Steven Gerrard, but Green’s howler, where he let a tame Clint Dempsey effort squirm through his grasp shortly before half-time, allowed the Americans to secure a point.

Green beat James and Joe Hart to the starting XI after months of debate about who should be England’s No.1 in South Africa, but the 39-year-old was right behind the former Norwich City shot stopper after the match.

“Mistakes happen in goalkeeping, and Rob Green made a great save in the second half to keep us at 1-1,” said James. “A mistake like that should stay with you for just two minutes.

“It is all about mental strength and as I said, he has made a great save in the second half.

"We haven't lost and there are a lot of positives to take out of the game.”

The Three Lions and Green will have to get over tonight’s blunder swiftly with them now facing a must-win game against Algeria in their next match on Friday.

England had 16 shots throughout the match and defender Glen Johnson was pleased with the performance, but admits they should have taken their chances.

Johnson said: "We didn't win the game so are disappointed, but we feel we had quite a good performance so we look forward to the next match.

"Mr Capello said he was happy with the performance but felt we were unlucky not to win the game.

"I think we created enough chances to win the game, but that's football - you win some and you lose some."

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
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