2010 World Cup Match 5 Preview England Vs USA

Match 5 of the World Cup gives us one of the most anticipated match ups of the Group Stage between the two favored teams out of Group C with England taking on USA. With kickoff set for Saturday at 20:30 South African time 2:30 PM EST in Rustenburg South Africa at Royal Bafokeng Stadium.  In our preview of match 5 we'll take a look at both squads and what both need to do to get the win in what looks to be possibly the biggest match in both teams group stage. 

We'll start by taking a look at England who honestly I have favored in this match.  The two teams have played each other only 9 times with England holding the decisive edge at 7 wins to the Americans 2.  The England team is a strong team all around They have a very strong defense led by Glen Johnson, Ashley Cole and John Terry this will be a tough group to crack for the Americans.  They also have two star midfielders in Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard who possess very solid all around games.  England also features one of the world's best Forwards in Wayne Rooney and look for fellow forward Peter Crouch to be a menace for opposing defenses as he stands an astounding 6'7" tall.  I look for a close game to be played but I think the Key to England is going to be their Defense as they should be able to create plenty of scoring opportunities if they can play solid defense and limit the USA in scoring opportunities I think this is their match to lose.

Now that we have looked at England let's turn our focus to the United States squad who may not be the favorite but don't count them out.  They have a world class goalkeeper in Tim Howard who could make up for the lack of an elite defense. With two star midfielders in Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey it's going to be up to these two to create on the offensive side of the field and create scoring opportunities for their team if they can break the defense and open up opportunities to score getting Jozy Altidore involved they could surprise the favored England team.  The key for the US to win has to be a two things. Tim Howard is going to have to play a magnificent game and the US is going to have to create scoring opportunities and capitalize on those opportunities if they want to win this game.  I think both teams are the favorites to advance out of the group stage so this could be a huge game in positioning for the next round.

                                      My Pick -England-

-Jefferson D. Powell