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Edgy England under pressure, say US stars

SoccerNews in English Premier League, MLS, World Cup 15 Jun 2010

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US star midfielders Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan see Group C rival England as under pressure as both teams try to push forward into the second round of the World Cup.

After playing to a 1-1 draw in their opener, the Americans and England both trail Slovenia, a 1-0 winner over Algeria. On Friday, the English will meet Algeria while the US faces Slovenia in critical first-round matches.

“In all likelihood, if we lose, we’re out of the tournament,” Donovan said Tuesday. “I would imagine the England players feel pressure to win. It’s the World Cup. There’s a lot of pressure to go around.”

England might feel a bit more since a 1-0 lead was squandered when goalkeeper Robert Green committed his now-infamous howler to hand Clint Dempsey a goal and gift the US a point.

“It seemed they were under a lot of pressure. You could sense it,” Dempsey said. “When we came back and equalized they still seemed edgy.

“You wouldn’t think it was that way with the best players in the world, Chelsea and Man United. You would think they would be more at ease. There was an edge to them.”

Dempsey stopped short of agreeing with German legend Franz Beckenbauer, who ripped England’s effort against the US team, saying Tuesday, “It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush.”

Dempsey said he would not call it a step backwards, adding, “I don’t think they are a team that wants to kick and run.”

There was also a sympathetic nod toward Green, whose blunder brought howls of protest at even the notion of Fabio Capello keeping him in the crease against Algeria.

“It’s tough,” Dempsey said. “You are under such a microscope. It’s easy for someone on the outside to go after someone, but unless you have been in the situation, you don’t know what it’s like.”

As for the ripping Green has taken, Dempsey was more matter of fact.

“That’s part of what comes with the territory,” he said. “You have got to be able to pull yourself up and keep going.”

Dempsey assigns some criticism to the Jabulani ball being used in the World Cup, a product much maligned by many players.

“The ball does move a bit. There is a little unpredictability with it,” Dempsey said. “I’m sure as the tournament goes on people are going to get more comfortable with it.”

“It’s tricky,” agreed Donovan. “It’s tough to know where the ball is going. It’s not just the goalkeepers. A lot of the players are frustrated too, not knowing which way the ball would go.”

Donovan does not dismiss the Americans’ own challenge in facing Slovenia just because they lack such superstars as England’s Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard.

“In theory, it seems easier to beat them because they don’t have a Rooney or a Lampard or a Gerrard,” Donovan said. “But the reality is they are tough to beat because they are a solid team and they have played together a long time.”

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