http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/worldcup2010/3016012/Clint-Dempsey-England-are-running-scared.html
ENGLAND are running scared as they prepare to face Algeria in their must-win World Cup crunch.
The damning verdict on Fabio Capello's men was delivered by USA star Clint Dempsey. He reckons the fear factor was already in evidence as England stumbled to a 1-1 draw against the States in their Group C opener.
The Fulham striker said: "Honestly it seemed during the game that they were dealing with a lot of pressure.
"I don't know why that is, you could just sense it a little bit. Even though they did score early, when we came back and we equalised, they just seemed edgy. They really did."
Dempsey, who was gifted the USA leveller by Rob Green's howler on Saturday, reckons even the likes of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are showing nerves.
He added: "You wouldn't think that would be the case for some of the best players in the world being on teams of the quality of Chelsea or Liverpool, winning the Champions League or the title. You would think these players would be full of confidence.
"There just seemed to be an edge to the team but it could have just been the opening game.
"You would have to ask them if it affected their performance.
"But they were edgy, there was an edginess to their game but I think they're a team with quality and they should play with confidence."
Dempsey, 27, also reckons Wayne Rooney posed no threat in Rustenburg.
He insisted: "We knew Rooney was going to go back and hold and we knew the further he was away from goal the better for us, so we had that under control."
And there was no sympathy for Green. Dempsey said: "It's probably a save the keeper should have made. I didn't expect it to go in.
"When you hit it, you're kinda like 'Mmmm does it have a chance?' and then you see the keeper mishandle it and you're excited."