I think it’s important to start with this: England has still never beaten the USA at the World Cup.

Pre-match, ESPN asked its analysts for match predictions. Ruud Gullit, the only level-headed one of the bunch, predicted a 1-1 draw. Alexi Lalas, ever the unrepentant homer, predicted a 2-1 USA win; Steve McManaman, ever the England homer, predicted a comfortable 3-1 win for England. I was thinking along with McManaman; in today’s RandBall post, I predicted at least two horrid USA defensive errors. I was thinking 3-1, maybe 3-0, and consoling myself with the upcoming chances the USA will have against Algeria and Slovenia.

Barely three minutes in, it looked like I and McManaman would be right on the money. Both Ricardo Clark and Carlos Bocanegra stood around and watched Steven Gerrard nip in and score. I’d say I was surprised, but it was in every way exactly like so many other goals that the American team has allowed, right down to Tim Howard screaming at his defenders. At that point, it looked to be a long, long afternoon – much like the opening game against the Czechs four years prior.

What I forgot is that England – no matter who’s in charge or who’s on the field – will always find a way to be ordinary, no matter what. Usually this means they lose on penalties; that wasn’t an option this time, so instead, Robert Green helped out by dropping a Clint Dempsey shot directly into the goal.

A friend gave me a plant as a housewarming gift today. This plant has now been named Robert Green, in the honor of a true hero to America and to USA fans everywhere.

A few sites claimed that England “dominated”, but really, both teams had chances for a winner. Emile Heskey was alone against Howard, but hit his shot straight at the American keeper; on the other end, Josy Altidore drove a prospective second-half tally off of Green’s hand and the post. Though England had more possession at the end, either team might have claimed the winning goal.

Most English newspapers I’ve checked seem to be putting a brave face on things – there’s still plenty of time to win the group and qualify for the knockout round – but this is truly a great result for America, and a disappointing one for England. The USA might well have expected to be on the bottom of Group C after tomorrow’s Algeria-Slovenia match; now, they could well be tied for the top of the group. For England, the pre-match talk was about whether the Three Lions could breeze through the group with three wins; now, they’ll sweat their own results against the two other Group C teams.

This was a good day for American soccer fans – something that we couldn’t have said at this point in 2006.