England goalkeeper Robert Green admitted that while his blunder that cost his country a win against the USA on Saturday in the 2010 World Cup finals was regrettable, he has the mental strength to cope with it and remain a dependable shot stopper for the Three Lions.
Green bundled a harmless shot from USA’s Clint Dempsey into his own net to gift them a 1-1 draw after England captain Steven Gerrard had given Fabio Capello’s side a dream start with a goal after four minutes.
It was reminiscent of the kind of goalkeeping howlers that had blighted the England careers of predecessors David Seaman, Paul Robinson and Scott Carson, with the latter having famously conceded two similar goals against Croatia that prematurely ended his international career.
Now Green has to look back on a mistake in an otherwise steady performance to wonder if his own England stint under Capello could be over after their opening Group C game. The West Ham goalkeeper is adamant that the mistake would not affect future performances and was determined to bounce back stronger.
“It was a mistake. The important thing is not to let it affect you for however long is left in the game,” Green said.
“That is what you prepare for mentally. You don’t prepare mentally for making great saves and playing the perfect game. You prepare for trauma.
“It is regrettable and not what you want to happen but that’s life and you move on, you hold your head up high and get to work in training. It won’t affect me psychologically. I’m 30, I’m a man, and you have hardships in life and prepare for them.
“I’m strong enough to move on. At a younger point in my life it would have affected me more. But you hold your hand up and say ‘that’s gone, move on and don’t let it affect you’.”
Green revealed that he only found out he would be starting when England boss Capello announced the team lineup two hours before kick-off.
“I found out before we left for the game when they announced the team, with everyone else,” said Green. “It wasn’t a factor. I prepared the same as if I was going to play.
“You go through mental preparation the night before the game and prepare for moments of trauma in a game when it happens. It happened today and for me the important thing was to bounce back from it.”
England skipper Gerrard claimed that no player in the dressing room would be blaming the loss of two points on Green which left the players in “shock” and remained fully behind their team mate for the rest of the tournament.
“Rob will learn from this and he might make an important save that wins us a match. We’re all behind him. It was a bit of shock and it took us a while to get over it,” Gerrard said.
“It was a difficult game. The most important thing in the opening game is not to lose. The idea was to win but unfortunately we let a poor goal in and we couldn’t go and get the winner. The target now has to be seven points.”
Capello had to answer his growing critics as he denied that his late line-up announced contributed to an uncertainty among his three goalkeepers that led to a decisive lack of focus on Green’s part. However, the Italian also stopped short of backing Green by claiming that he may not play in England’s next game against Algeria.
“No, absolutely not,” Capello said, when asked if he made a mistake. “I decided Green would be the goalkeeper because he played the last game very well and at Wembley (against Mexico) the performance was very good too. He made one mistake, but in the second half he made a good save. This is the problem of the goalkeeper.
“We have to accept the mistakes of goalkeepers and of referees and of forwards. This is football.”
“We have time to decide and to speak with him and I will decide.”
Tags: England, Fabio Capello, Robert Green, Steven Gerrard, World Cup, World Cup 2010
