England, US should advance to 2nd round at WCup

Sixty years after the United States shocked star-studded England at the World Cup, the countries will meet again at the 2010 edition.
Back then, the Americans were a team of journeymen who defended stoutly against the English and won the game 1-0. Both teams were eliminated in the first round, but this time it will be a major surprise if they don't both advance.
The English again have a very strong team while the Americans, making their sixth straight World Cup appearance, look capable of reaching the quarterfinals - as they did in 2002.
The other two teams in Group C are Slovenia and Algeria, both of whom had to qualify through playoffs and are long shots to make it through the first round.
At its only previous appearance in 1982, Algeria beat West Germany 2-1 and Chile 3-2 but were robbed of a place in the second round by a contrived result between the Germans and Austria.
This time, the Algerians qualified for the first World Cup to be staged in Africa with a playoff triumph over Egypt, which went on to win the African Cup of Nations.
Slovenia's only appearance was eight years ago when it lost all three group games to Spain, South Africa and Paraguay and went home early.
The English and Americans face each other on Day 2 of the tournament in Rustenburg, and that game should decide which of the two will finish top of the group and avoid the likelihood of facing Germany in the last 16.
England's lineup has both talent and experience with players such as Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry having played multiple tournaments, albeit going no further than the quarterfinals.
They would have been joined by David Beckham, too, but the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder has been ruled out with a torn Achilles' tendon.
In Fabio Capello, England has a coach who has major successes at club level in Italy and Spain and has instilled strong discipline into his squad, taking the captaincy away from Terry after an alleged extramarital affair with the ex-girlfriend of one his England teammates.
United States coach Bob Bradley has restored faith in his team and he is getting the best out of genuinely talented players such as attacking midfielders Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, and goalkeeper Tim Howard.
That trio and several more of Bradley's squad have experience playing in the English Premier League and so are well aware of the skills - and weaknesses - of England's team.
While a victory over England might still be considered an upset, it would be nothing like the proportions of 1950.