Green seeks refuge on golf course

Robert Green sought respite on the golf course on Sunday as debate raged over whether he should be axed by Fabio Capello over the extraordinary error that cost England a win in their World Cup opener against the United States.

The 30-year-old was seen laughing and joking with team-mates including Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch as the players spent part of their post-match day off at the Lost City Golf Course in Sun City.

The West Ham goalkeeper is hoping he will retain the gloves for England’s second Group C match, against Algeria in Cape Town on Friday, and has been backed to bounce back from his traumatic World Cup debut by his team-mates.

Capello however has refused to rule out a recall for veteran David James or promotion for Manchester City youngster Joe Hart.

Past experience suggests the Italian may already have made a decision on that, but Green will still be be made to spend the week sweating over whether he will get a chance to redeem himself in Cape Town.

“Hapless” was one of the kinder adjectives used by England’s Sunday newspapers to describe Green’s fumbled attempt to keep out an innocuous Clint Dempsey shot that cancelled out Steven Gerrard’s opener on Saturday evening.

Green knew that he would be in for a mauling at the hands of the press, but insisted he was ready to cope with being described as the “cock-up keeper” who had wrecked England’s dream start with the “worst howler ever.”

He said: “I’m 30. I’m a man. I’m strong enough to take it and move on and be ready for another game if selected,” he said.

“The approach is not to let it affect you for however many more you play. That’s why you prepare mentally. It’s something where you’ve got to hold your head high, hang in there and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I want to play in every game I can. I’ve made mistakes in the past. If I get flack, so be it. I take responsibility for my problems and move on.”

Capello reacted to Green’s error by turning his back on the pitch in clenched jaw fury.

But the goalkeeper revealed that the coach, who praised Green for a fine second half save from Jozy Altidore, had struck a positive note at the interval.

“He was fine. At half-time, he said ‘it is not a problem, move on’ – and you do that.”

Green’s error has put the spotlight on Capello’s policy of not confirming his team, even to his players, until two hours before kick-off.

Critics say the approach does not engender confidence and may have contributed to Green’s uncharacteristic error.

James admitted that the late announcement of who was playing could be difficult to deal with.

“It is not a nice thing,” said the Portsmouth goalkeeper, who was Capello’s number one when the Italian took over but fell behind Green following a series of injuries.

“When the team is announced there is a sense of disappointment which affects everyone in the same boat, but straight afterwards you are focused on making sure the team wins and that includes the goalkeepers.”

James does not however anticipate any change of policy from Capello.

“I can pretty much guarantee that there won’t be a situation where the manager is going to start doing things differently,” James said.

“We will have four or five days worth of training to get ready for the next match and again five minutes before we get on the coach we will find out whether we are playing or not.

“So all we can do is be positive, train well and put ourselves in contention.”