Group C has been a mixture of emotions for one team in particular. England expected to take the full nine points available from the three games, yet only managed to scrape together five. The group winners were the United States thanks to their superior goal difference, after they also finished on five points. Algeria were the ones who finished bottom after a disappointing showing in the two games, only showing real heart against the Eng...More

The USA joined England in qualifying for the Round of 16 from Group C following a 1-0 win over Algeria in the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria following a late, late winner from Landon Donovan. Both teams made changes to their starting line-up with Herculez Gomez, Maurice Edu and Jonathan Bornstein starting for The United States and striker Rafik Djebbour coming into the Algeria line-up. The teams were scoreless for most of the gam...More

Day 13 of the tournament provided plenty of excitement as the knockout stages continued to take shape. England produced the goods when it mattered with a 1-0 win over Slovenia, while the USA left it extremely late before securing their place in the last 16 with three points against Algeria. In Group D, Germany saw off Ghana to set up a clash with England while Ghana also progressed after Australia did them a favour defeating Serbia 2-1....More

It may have been left to L.A. Galaxy’s Landon Donovan to hammer the final nail in the Algerian World Cup coffin, but if truth be told, the damage had been done long before the United States’ dramatic late winner. With the final group game level in the closing stages, the Desert Foxes were still heading home having failed to pick up wins against both Slovenia and England in their previous matches. An expected early departure for Rabah Sa...More

With England desperately needing a victory, the old foes Germany playing Africa’s only remaining realistic prospect for last 16 qualification and the United States pinching a last-gasp goal to seal their progression to the Round of 16, Day 13 of the World Cup was comfortably the most exciting, tense, nail-biting and enjoyable so far. Despite the whole of England skiving for an hour and a half, trying not to shout too boisterously ...More

Was it the pressure of expectation? Was it just an abject England display? Or did Algeria shock the world with an organised and efficient performance to see Fabio Capello’s men humbled, despite their pre-match confidence? The truth of the matter is that is was quite possibly a combination of all three. The pressure on an England side to meet and indeed exceed expectations is always great at a major tournament, perhaps never more so...More