Birthday Boy, Fabio Capello had Gareth Barry fit and brought in David James as number one.

Ravshan Irmatov, of Uzbekistan, refereed the South Africa vs Mexico opening game and became the first referee to take charge of his second match at the 2010 World Cup Finals.

Algeria also started the game with a change of goalkeeper; Rais M'Bolhi even had a trial for Manchester United before the tournament. Perhaps it was memories of that trial that fogged his vision, as he made an early mistake by passing to Wayne Rooney.

With eighteen minutes gone, Algeria seemed to settle in rather well; giving England plenty to think about.

Five minutes later, David James did well to keep hold of Nadir Belhadj's high corner; as Algeria continued to put England on the back foot.

With half an hour gone, England were looking perilously close to winning the 'Worse Team of The Tournament' tag off France; about the only thing either team would win on their current showing.

A chorus of God Save The Queen inspired Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney for a split second; the sort of mini moments that result in goals.

Then a minute later, M'Bolhi stopped England's best chance of the first-half; from the rapidly advancing Frank Lampard. Those sort of goals have gone in so many times at Stamford Bridge.

Fabio Capello walked towards the tunnel with his head down and hands in his pockets. Not the sort of birthday surprise he would have wished for. Now what?

Half-time: 0:0

Is the Italian manager suffocating the players? Maybe they should listen to Beckenbauer - kick and rush is better than this.

Emile Heskey showed that he's been watching some of the talent in other World Cup games as he tried to appear skilful with his feet on the right. Unfortunately, a donkey can't become a thoroughbred overnight.

Things went from bad to worse, just before the hour, as Jamie Carragher was booked for a block on the edge of the area and would miss the crucial game against Slovenia. No tears though.

An awful back-pass from John Terry put David James under immense pressure. Terry then made amends by heading the goalkeeper's punt further upfield.

The arrival of Jermain Defoe, in place of Emile Heskey, added a little more spark to the England attack.

The Americans could quite rightly feel proud of their draw with Slovenia, after going two goals down in their first-half, but England would have to be thoroughly ashamed by this performance.

In a final throw of the dice, Capello sent on big Peter Crouch for Gareth Barry, with just six minutes left to break the deadlock.

That didn't work, so knockout football comes early for England, as they have to beat Slovenia in the final group game. On this showing, that doesn't look very likely.

If England can't score one goal against Slovenia (and keep a clean sheet), they'll need to draw at least two-two and hope the United States vs Algeria game is goalless. As for drawing of lots, perish the thought.

England 0 Algeria 0