FIFA World Cup: Green blunder hands U.S. draw with England

Green, 29, winning only his 11th England cap after being preferred to the vastly more experienced David James, will be haunted for the rest of his career by the mistake when he failed to routinely stop a low, bouncing 25-meter shot from Clint Dempsey after 40 minutes.

He reacted in horror as the ball squirmed out of his grasp and bounced away from him as he tried to prevent it crossing the line, crouching in abject mortification as it rolled into the back of the net to cancel out Steven Gerrard's fourth minute opener for England.

"It's one of those freak things that happens -- plenty of people have been talking about the ball this week. It shocked us a bit, but we'll get behind Robert," said Gerrard.

"I think the most important thing in your first game is not to lose. Unfortunately, we let a poor goal in and we couldn't go on and get the win."

It was the second time Green had endured a World Cup nightmare after becoming the first England goalkeeper ever to be sent off when he was red carded in a qualifying match against Ukraine last October.

He slightly redeemed himself in the second half when he forced a Jozy Altidore shot on to a post, but is unlikely to live down a woeful piece of keeping that could not be blamed on the unpredictable flight of the much criticized World Cup ball.

"Sometimes one player in front of the keeper misses a goal. Sometimes keepers make mistakes, that's football," said England coach Fabio Capello.