Goalie Gaffe Helps US Tie England, 1-1

Oops. The United States played to a 1-1 draw with England today after a stunning mistake by English goalie Robert Green, reports AP. With his team trailing 1-0, USA's Clint Dempsey put an apparently harmless 25-foot shot on net that Green bumbled and fumbled and let slip in late in the first half. England had gone up 1-0 in the game's fourth minute.

The draw is great news for the American team's hopes of advancing past the first round. England was theoretically its toughest challenge, notes Jeff Z. Klein of the New York Times. The next two games—against Slovenia (June 18) and Algeria (June 23)—should be easier. "But remember 2006, when the United States drew with Italy, but lost to Ghana and the Czech Republic." (More 2010 World Cup stories.)