Cape Town: England was booed off the field by its own fans after being held 0-0 by outsider Algeria on Friday in a dire World Cup performance that mystified coach Fabio Capello.
Missing simple passes and not making enough chances against a team it should have beaten easily, England produced one of its worst World Cup performances ever and is now left with two points from two group games and is in danger of failing to reach the last 16.
"We played a no good game," Capello said. "We missed a lot of balls when we had to control (it). We missed a lot of passes and also when we were close to the box we had the possibility to shoot at the goal we made passes to the other players. We missed everything."
Asked if he would resign if England failed to qualify, he replied: "It's too early to speak about this. We have to wait."
After throwing away an early lead and being held 1-1 by the United States in its first Group C game, England got worse instead of better at the Green Point stadium.
The performance was a mixture of the hesitant, tense and downright careless as Capello's players were made to look second best on the ball by a team making only its third World Cup appearance and first for 24 years.
Back in the starting lineup in a competitive game for the first time since April 2009, goalkeeper David James scared his defenders with an uncertain punch close to his goal-line early in the game.
Virtually all the outfield players — team captain Steven Gerrard especially — were guilty of needlessly giving possession away to the skillful, well-organized Algerians who outdribbled and outpassed the millionaire English players for long spells.
Even the normally rock solid John Terry was guilty of a lazy back pass that almost let in Karim Matmour and he was rescued by James racing off his line to clear.
England's other main fault, among many, was continually going for the wrong options — shooting when a pass was better or the other way round.
It was not until the 30th minute that Capello's men gave Algeria goalkeeper Rais Bolhi anything to do. He made a fine diving save to keep out a left foot shot from Frank Lampard and dealt easily with drives from Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Barry.
Rooney had one of his worst games in an England shirt, lacking the zest and drive that brought him 34 league and cup goals in the season just ended.
"Rooney didn't play like Rooney," Capello said.
At the end of the game, Rooney appeared upset by the booing coming from the England fans.
"Nice to see the home fans boo you," he sarcastically told a TV channel. "That's what you call loyal supporters."
The England coach waved his arms in frustration during the match, and walked off after it with his hands in his pockets and looking glum.
But he stressed that the team still had a chance to qualify for the next round, by beating Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday. Slovenia drew 2-2 with the United States on Friday and leads the Group C standings with four points, followed by England and the U.S. on two, and Algeria on one.
"The pressure of the World Cup exists because these players training very well," he said. "Also we had big luck because we have another chance to go forward. And we have to be focused to go forward. We have the big chance because of the draw (of United States and Slovenia)."
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