By DPA,
Johannesburg : Fancied England were held to a 1-1 draw by underdogs the United States Saturday as Argentina and South Korea chalked up victories on the second day of the World Cup.
England began briskly, with captain Steven Gerrard putting them ahead after just 4 minutes, but a goalkeeping blunder by Robert Green allowed Clint Dempsey to grab a 40th minute equalizer for the US.
Goalkeeping woes have plagued the English squad in recent years and it was no exception Saturday when manager Fabio Capello selected West Ham’s Green in place of David James.
Green appeared to have a harmless looking long-distance shot from Dempsey safely under control, but the ball somehow managed to squirm out of his hands and roll over the line.
England failed to live up to their role as Group C favourites after Gerrard’s early goal in front of a crowd of 38,600 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg.
Frank Lampard worked the ball across to veteran striker Emile Heskey, who justified his place in the line-up with an intelligent pass to Gerrard, who right-footed the ball home from near the penalty spot.
The US side slowly recovered from the shock and gradually came back into the game.
England rallied late in the second half but were thwarted by US goalkeeper Tim Howard, whose string of spectacular saves denied England another goal and earned him the man-of-the-match award.
Meanwhile, in Group B Argentina got off to a winning start by beating Nigeria 1-0 but it is South Korea who top the group after their 2-0 victory over Greece.
Diego Maradona took charge of his first ever World Cup match and despite seeing Gabriel Heinze put his team ahead in the sixth minute he was made to sweat for the points at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Stadium.
Maradona’s last World Cup match as a player had also been against Nigeria in the 1994 finals. It ended with a 2-1 win but came just before his expulsion from the tournament for a drug offence.
Wearing a slick dark gray suit the 49-year-old’s return was a happy one which ended with him hugging his players after a victory that would have been much more comfortable had it not been for FIFA man-of-the-match Vincent Enyeama.
The Nigeria goalkeeper could do nothing about Heinze’s first half header but he kept out Leo Messi with an inspired display foiling the Barcelona striker on numerous occasions.
“It’s my best ever game and it has come against the best player in the world,” said Enyeama whose superb performance even left his team with a chance of a late equalizer.
Maradona, who hugged his players after the match, promised that things would get better for the South Americans.
“Of course, when you begin World Cup by winning the first match, it means we will be more relaxed for the next game,” he said. “We produced some very interesting attacking play but suffered a bit because we could not convert all our chances.”
Kalu Uche and Yakube Ayegbeni both missed chances in the closing stages as Argentina counted down the clock. Argentina now face South Korea next Thursday in a game which could decide who tops Group B.
That position is currently South Korea’s after they comfortably brushed aside Greece with a 2-0 victory.
Fifa man-of-the-match Park Ji Sung was inspirational for Huh Jung Moo’s team scoring the second goal after Lee Jung Soo hit the opener.
Just 31,500 supporters turned up at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay 42,486 seater stadium but they were thrilled by South Korea’s attacking football.
“Everyone was impressive,” said South Korea coach Huh. His Greek counterpart Otto Rehhagel admitted: “Our opponents took their chances and we didn’t.” He must now lift his players for their match against Nigeria Thursday.