England skipper Steven Gerrard wants to win over Algeria
England skipper Steven Gerrard is looking for a total of seven points for England after their 1-1 draw with America in their opening Group C match.
He said: "We deserved better - just. It was a difficult game. The most important thing is not to lose the first game. The most idea was to win but we were unfortunate we let a poor goal in and couldn't go on to win it. The target now has to be seven points.
"The American goal was one of those things - you cant criticise the keeper. We have to get behind the goalkeeper and Robert will learn from this, go from strength to strength and play an important part down the line. He could make an important save to win us a game down the line. It came as a shock [to concede like that] and took us a while to get over it but I thought we finished the game stronger."
England coach Fabio Capello remained upbeat following the 1-1 draw with the USA at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
There had been great anticipation during the build-up to the Three Lions' first Group C fixture but a strike from Fulham’s Clint Dempsey late in the first half clawed the Americans level after Steven Gerrard had provided England with the dream start they had hoped for when opening the scoring in only the fourth minute.
"We created a lot of chances to score goals, we presssed a lot and played a good game, but one mistake cost us a goal, but this is football," said Capello. I am pleased with the performance of the team and I think the next game we will be better. Sometimes a striker misses a chance in front of goal and sometimes a goalkeeper makes a mistake - this is football. I thought he [Robert Green] played very well in the second half and I was very happy with him.
"There were positives in the midfield and Steve Gerrard and Frank Lampard played well. A lot of players played well. We had chances to score more goals too, but I have to accept the result and hope the next time we will be more lucky."
Capello also said that Ledley King's injury did not look too bad and he could possibly make it back to full fitness for next game against Algeria on Friday 18 June. "He has just a little problem," explained Capello.
Meanwhile Frank Lampard has backed Robert Green to bounce back from his blunder that cost England victory in their World Cup opener against USA, thanks to a terrible mistake by goalkeeper Green. However, Lampard has total confidence in the West Ham goalkeeper to recover from his howler which came just five minutes before half-time.
The Chelsea midfielder said, "It was unfortunate. I don't know how much the ball moved. We were disappointed for Greeny because we are a team and we win, lose and draw as a team. It is unfortunate for keepers, They are the last line and, when they make a bit of a boob, it gets picked out.
"But no-one will be pointing the finger. He made a good save in the second half as well (from Jozy Altidore). I think he has got the character to bounce back. You are playing in the World Cup so you have to have character because it doesn't always go your way. Greeny will have that. I hope so. He is a very good professional. He will work hard and keep going."
But Lampard warns that England will have to improve on their performance against the Americans and secure victory in their next two games to ensure progress to the last 16. To do this they need to overcome Algeria and Slovenia to give themselves an opportunity of finishing top of Group C.
The 31-year-old said: "Maybe the point will be important but we have to go and win the next two games now. All the teams I have seen so far in the World Cup will look to improve and we are the same as everybody else in that way. It was frustrating not to get the win. It wasn't a bad performance but we will want to - and we will need to improve. We possibly should have won the game. It was disappointing. We created enough chances. We were pretty comfortable until they equalised.
"In the second half we had a couple of chances so it was a bit frustrating not to get a win which would have put us in the driving seat in the group. Steven scored early and after that we felt in control of the game. They never really threatened too much in our box. It was a bit of a freak goal for them and that gave them a lift going into half-time."
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