England Fans Turned Green By Goalkeeping Error

Monday, 14th June 2010 at 10:36am

In the build up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, one of Fabio Capello's biggest concerns has been who to select in goal for England: David James who has yet to convince the coaching staff of his fitness; Robert Green, solid and unspectacular; or Joe Hart who enjoyed the best season of the three but is inexperienced at international level.

In the end, Capello played it safe, as he is wont to do, and plumped for Green but his decision backfired when the West Ham stopper allowed Clint Dempsey's speculative 25-yard shot to squirm past him into the net, gifting the USA an unlikely equaliser.

In fairness to Capello, it wasn't he who made the error but his decision to pick Green will come under scrutiny as will every other decision he has made and will make before England's participation in the tournament comes to an end.

Traditionally, goalkeeping was a major strength of the English game and the custodians of the England goal were always rated highly on the world stage: Banks, Clemence, Shilton, and Seaman to name four.

It says a lot about the state of English goalkeeping that Green, James and Hart are England's leading 'keepers. What says more is that none of the three played for teams in the upper echelons of the Premier League last season.

Fortunately for Hart, who seems a genuine prospect for the number one shirt, at the tender age of 22 he has age on his side and will have the opportunity to play in several World Cups.

He is likely to inherit the shirt in the near future and has the potential to keep hold of it for some time to come.

Capello, like every other coach around the world, must look at the Spanish squad with envious glances.

For the past decade, Spain have started with the great Ike Casillas in goal and should he suffer an injury or loss of form, then coach Vincente Del Bosque can call on either Liverpool's Pepe Reina or Barcelona's Victor Valdes, two goalkeepers who would be number one choices for the majority of countries.

Unfortunately for England fans, the goalkeeping cupboard is bare and Capello has a big decision to make ahead of England's second Group C match against Algeria on Friday.

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