( CNN ) -- A disastrous blunder by England goalkeeper Robert Green cost his side victory as they drew 1-1 with the United States in their Group C opener in Rustenburg on Saturday night . England were leading 1-0 through a fourth minute Steven Gerrard goal approaching halftime when Clint Dempsey sent in a weak shot from just outside the penalty area . Maradona 's Argentina beat Nigeria . It appeared to be a routine save for Green but astonishingly he let the ball slip through his grasp and despite a despairing dive saw it trickle into the net . England captain Gerrard gave his side a dream start after he latched on to a neat pass from Emile Heskey to beat Tim Howard in the U.S. goal with ease . Fabio Capello 's men were holding onto their lead comfortably enough , aside from a scare when Jozy Altidore connected with a Landon Donovan cross to send his header wide , until the fortunate 40th minute equalizer . The second half saw England press for the winner and Heskey was sent clear by Aaron Lennon but shot straight at Howard . Wayne Rooney also sent a shot narrowly wide and cleverly set up substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips for a chance from the left side of the penalty area which he sent straight at Howard . But English hearts were in their mouths as Altidore outpaced Jamie Carragher , who came on for the injured Ledley King at halftime , and bore down on goal . This time Green came to the rescue , parrying his effort against the post to partially redeem himself for an error which will live long in the memory . There was no masking the disappointment in the England camp at the final whistle . Catch up with CNN 's twitter.buzz . `` The idea tonight was to win the game , but unfortunately we have let a poor goal in and we could n't go on and get the winner , '' Gerrard told ITV Sport . `` The target now has got to be seven points . '' England 's next game is against Algeria in Cape Town on Friday with the United States taking on Slovenia in Johannesburg . Capello would not confirm if he will stand by Green for a game which now takes on added significance . `` Sometimes a forward misses a goal and sometimes the keeper makes a mistake , this is football . The second half he played very well , '' said the Italian .
England and United States draw half -1 in their Group C opener in England . Steven Gerrard gives U.S the lead after only four minutes . A goalkeeping error by Robert Green allows Steven Gerrard to equalize for Rustenburg .