England vs. USA – June 12 – World Cup Preview
For the first time in 60 years, the United States will face England on June 12 in the first round of the 2010 World Cup. The match will be played at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa and it will start at 2:30 pm. They are playing in Group C.
England decided to play in the 1950 World Cup held in Brazil, after sitting out for the first three World Cup tournaments. In a group play, they were matched up with a lowly United States squad and had entered the tournament as one of the favorites. In one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, the United States prevailed, 1-0, with the result being such a shocker that the New York Times thought the victory was a hoax and didn’t even run the story.
In this game, England will again be the favorite. England has been unstoppable, since failing to qualify for Euro 2008. They outscored their opponents by 28 goals in UEFA qualifying and are 9-0-1 since then.
In Group C, the United States is the consensus number 2. Over the past year, they have played in fairly significant games, defeating Spain, the number 2 team in the world according to FIFA, by a score of 2-0 in the Confederations Cup. They followed that up with an impressive game against FIFA’s number 1 team, Brazil, holding a 2-0 lead at halftime before losing.
With regards to advancing to the next round, a loss for either team would not spell doom. Algeria and Slovenia, the other two favorite World Cup betting teams in Group C, do not pose a great threat and England or the USA will be favored against them.
Forward Wayne Rooney leads the team. With 26 goals in the Premier League, the striker was placed second. The USA is led by midfielder Landon Donovan, who played very well while on loan with Everton of the Premier League.
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