19 Jun 2010

Another pair of draws means all down to last game

12:32 pm on 19 June 2010

England's pool at the football World Cup in South Africa will go down to the final game after both matches ended in draws on Saturday.

The English couldn't break down Algeria, drawing nil-all in Cape Town while the United States and Slovenia also drew in rather more dramatic fashion, the Americans coming back from 2-nil down to finish 2-all.

England must beat Slovenia next week to be sure of qualifying for the second round of the World Cup - Slovenia are the only side with a win in Group C and sit top on four points, ahead of England and the USA on two points and Algeria on one.

But the English side again showed little to justify predictions they could figure in the later stages of the tournament as they rarely threatened their north African opponents - who could have stolen victory if they had more potent strikers.

In a shock upset in the day's opening match, 10-man Germany were stunned 1-nil by Serbia.