On this day in 2010, England began their attempt to end 44 years of disappointment on the international stage by facing USA in their opening game of the World Cup finals in South Africa.

Fabio Capello's side had progressed through a qualification group that had included Croatia and Ukraine to book their place among the world's elite, but after missing out on Euro 2008, there was pressure on Capello and his squad of players to perform at their first major appearance in four years.

Capello's main selection dilemma revolved around who he should start in goal, but his decision was made for him after a minor knee injury to David James saw Robert Green handed the responsibility between the sticks, while James Milner and Emile Heskey were notable inclusions further up the pitch.

The selection of Heskey had divided opinion back home, but the Aston Villa man made an instant impact for the Three Lions, touching the ball onto the advancing Steven Gerrard who made no mistake in slotting it into the net from 14 yards.

Despite that early opener, England struggled to find any kind of rhythm against their opponents, who, despite the difference in quality in each side, were showing that they would be no pushovers, and they should have been level through Jozy Altidore but he could only glance his header wide of the post.

That near miss momentarily sprung England into life, but after Wayne Rooney's tame effort had failed to test Tim Howard, England were soon on the back foot again and they narrowly avoided being pegged back when Oguchi Onyewu glanced a header wide from close range.

As the match hit the half-hour mark, Capello decided that he had seen enough and replaced the ailing Milner, who had been suffering with a virus, with Shaun Wright-Phillips, and the Manchester City winger looked lively during his first 10 minutes on the pitch as England pushed for a second goal before half time.

However, with five minutes remaining until the break, disaster struck for England and Robert Green. After creating space for himself in the middle of England's half, Clint Dempsey's low effort looked a certainty to be dealt with by Green, but the West Ham United stopper allowed the ball to slip through his grasp and roll over the line.

Capello had work to do before the start of the second half, and after a bright opening, England created an opportunity for Heskey to run clear on goal, but the 32-year-old showed why he was only averaging one goal in every eight matches for his club by firing the ball too close to Howard from inside the penalty area.

Like in the first half, England soon lost their early momentum and after yellow cards to Jamie Carragher and Gerrard, USA threatened a second goal through Carlos Bocanegra, but his header from eight yards failed to hit the target.

England responded with a Frank Lampard strike that was tipped over by Howard, but they continued to live dangerously up the other end when Altidore got the better of Carragher inside the penalty area before seeing his shot deflected onto the post by Green.

Rooney almost eased the tension among his side with a 30-yard drive that whistled past the post, but Capello wasn't impressed with the cohesion of his players and Peter Crouch was thrown on with 10 minutes remaining to try to salvage three points.

However, chances were few and far between for a desperate-looking England side, and while Capello would have been content with an undefeated start to the group, it was the manner of the result that would have discouraged the Italian.

The performance from England set the tone for the remainder of the tournament, but after an inept display saw them draw 0-0 with Algeria, a Jermain Defoe strike against Slovenia helped the team progress through to a second-round showdown with rivals Germany.

A close, competitive game was anticipated, but England were blown away by their European counterparts as they succumbed to a demoralising 4-1 defeat, but the match will be remembered for referee Jorge Larrionda failing to award England a second goal despite Lampard's 25-yard strike going two feet over the line after hitting the underside of the crossbar.