Mixed Day for American World Cup Foes

It might have been difficult for American fans to find many silver linings following the U.S. National Team's 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands Wednesday in Amsterdam.

Across the rest of the 2010 World Cup Group C, it wasn't exactly all peaches and cream either. The three opponents the U.S. will play in June saw their fortunes sway, too, on what was the final day clubs were duty-bound to release players for national team duties.

England, which the U.S. will play on June 12, heard cat calls as it walked off the Wembley Stadium field at halftime, as they trailed African champions Egypt 1-0 on a goal by Mohamed Zidan.

The Three Lions bounced back in the second half through the much-maligned striker Peter Crouch, who got them on the board in the 56th minute when he converted Garth Barry's low cross. England went ahead 2-1 in the 75th when Shaun Wright-Phillips cashed in after a scramble inside the Egypt penalty area.

Crouch sealed it for England with his second goal of the game, this time in the 80th when he got onto a pass from Wright-Phillips.

Based on reports, and watching with one eye during the U.S./Netherlands game, it was an adequate performance by England -- nothing that will set the already lofty expectations for the team even more unrealistically high.

Slovenia, which the U.S. plays on June 18, had no trouble brushing aside Qatar 4-1 in Maribor. It's probably hard to gauge very much from this match, since Qatar is clearly a step below World Cup competition. One player to watch for Slovenia is 6-foot-4 FC Köln striker Milivoje Novakovic who scored in the first half.

Finally, Algeria's poor run of formed continued today in Algiers. Off the heels of its 4-0 trouncing by rival Egypt in the African Cup of Nations semifinals, where it ended the match with eight men, Algeria was thumped 3-0 by fellow World Cup qualifier Serbia.

There will definitely be some major question marks hanging over the Algerians come June.

Across the globe, it wasn't a great day for some of the World Cup qualifiers.

Greece lost 2-0 at home to Senegal, while Slovakia lost to Norway 1-0. Injury depleted Ghana lost 2-1 to Bosnia. Honduras went down 2-0 on the road at Turkey and Denmark lost 2-1 at Austria.

In games between dual qualifiers, Germany lost 1-0 to Argentina in Munich on a 45th minute goal from Gonzalo Higuain. Uruguay won 3-1 at Switzerland. Italy played Cameroon to a 0-0 draw and finally Spain dispatched France 2-0 in Paris on first-half goals from David Villa and Sergio Ramos.