Steven Gerrard had given Fabio Capello's men a dream start against the United States with an early goal at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, but England was sent back to square one when Green fumbled Clint Dempsey's unthreatening shot five minutes from half-time.

He said: "I have sympathy for Robert. Even at this level, I have mixed emotions."

"I was delighted to see us equalise but it is never nice for that happen to a keeper."

"But if you play this long at the highest level, you have to have broad shoulders. Robert has those and he will be fine."

Howard was happy with a share of the spoils after giving up the early goal.

He said: "We had our backs to the wall for a while and we knew that was going to happen but overall we did pretty well.

"We are excited about the point and looking forward to the next two."

"We were disappointed to give away the early goal but we bounced back."