England 1, United States 1

Given the nature of the subject that has dominated the Anglo-American news agenda in the last month, perhaps it was inevitable that a meeting between England and America in the World Cup finals would result in a spill.

British Petroleum’s mishap in the Gulf of Louisiana could yet result in the company’s demise; Robert Green’s mistake in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium last night will surely signal the end of his days as an England international.

Given the magnitude of the stage, and the elementary nature of the error, Green’s 40th-minute fumble can justifiably be described as the biggest individual blunder in the history of the England team – and that even takes into account the countless penalty misses that have halted the country’s progress down the years.

“We have time to decide on who will start the next game,” said Fabio Capello in the aftermath of a 1-1 draw that, while undeniably unsatisfactory, should not be terminal to England’s hopes of qualifying for the second round. “I will speak to him and after that I will decide.”

There is every chance the conversation will be a short one. Green served England well in qualifying but, with David James and Joe Hart waiting in the wings, the West Ham shot-stopper is surely poised to follow Paul Robinson and Scott Carson on to the international scrapheap.

His demise was both pitiful and painful. Leading through Steven Gerrard’s fourth-minute opener, England were controlling their opening game in South Africa without ever looking totally comfortable when Clint Dempsey unleashed a weak 20-yard shot that trundled straight towards Green.

The goalkeeper appeared to have set himself well but instead of rolling into his grasp, the ball spun from his gloves and trickled backwards into the goal.

Green’s immediate reaction – he slumped to the turf with his head in his hands – said it all. But now that the dust has settled, there are two key questions to answer. Should he have been in goal in the first place, and should he have been informed of his first-choice status long before two hours before the start of the game?

The answer to the first question is probably yes – while his club form was poor in the second half of the season, his displays for England had always been solid – but the answer to second is surely no.

Goalkeeper is a specialist position and, despite the protestations of both Green and Capello, it would surely have been better to have established the pecking order between the sticks weeks ago.

“Sometimes defenders make mistakes, sometimes keepers make mistakes,” countered Capello. “The ball moves a lot. In the second half, Robert Green played very well, but the mistake remains a mistake.”

Green’s second-half save, when he turned Jozy Altidore’s shot against the post after the striker had outpaced substitute defender Jamie Carragher, at least showed mental resolve, but by then the damage had been done.

England’s opening game of the 2010 World Cup will now forever be remembered for his error, but in many ways the crestfallen goalkeeper is an ideal shield for his team-mates and manager.

If a gaffe-prone goalkeeper was the only thing to worry about ahead of group games against Algeria and Slovenia, the situation would not be too bad. As it is, the lack of a reliable custodian is merely one of a number of headaches facing Capello as he prepares to travel to Cape Town for Friday’s meeting with the north Africans.

There were a number of positives to emerge from yesterday’s game – most notably the form of Gerrard, who dispatched England’s opener with clinical aplomb after a slick build-up involving Frank Lampard and Emile Heskey, and Glen Johnson, who made a series of incisive surges down the right.

Heskey also caught the eye, holding the ball up effectively and acting as the focal point for a number of England attacks, although the Aston Villa striker blotted his copybook in the early stages of the second half when he wasted the most clear-cut opportunity of the game by shooting straight at Tim Howard after being released through the middle by Aaron Lennon. Ironically, it was only his ninth shot on target all season and he could not have put it any nearer the goalkeeper if he had tried.

For every positive to emerge though, there was a negative to go with it. James Milner – horribly exposed on the left of midfield in the biggest match of his career, and hauled off after half an hour to protect him from the possibility of a red card. Ledley King – crocked after 45 minutes with a groin strain and now unlikely to play in either of the two remaining group games. Shaun Wright-Phillips and Lennon – repeatedly unable to provide anything approximating an end product despite plenty of time and space.

While Capello’s most immediate task is to identify the make-up of his defence for Friday – Carragher’s lack of pace means Matthew Upson must surely be considered as an alternative partner for John Terry against Algeria – the biggest concern to emerge from Saturday’s game was the lifeless, predictable nature of much of England’s play.

This was 2006’s soporific showings in Germany all over again, and while Gareth Barry’s anticipated return on Friday will free Gerrard to return to his more effective position on the left, there is a growing fear that a conventional 4-4-2 formation does not play to Wayne Rooney’s strengths.

England’s talisman was a peripheral presence against the United States, save for a brief second-half spell when he dropped much deeper in an attempt to influence the game, and if Capello is to achieve anything in the next month, he will surely have to hit upon a formation or system that enables Rooney to exert a much greater influence on proceedings.

Capello claimed: “We played a good match. We created a lot of chances to score goals but I think the result is not good for us because I think we played better than USA. But these things happen in football and we have to look forward to the next game.”

That next game has now become infinitely more important. As BP can attest, the accident is not the problem, it is how you deal with the clear-up operation that counts.