THERE were a lot of frustrated England fans on Saturday evening.

Many missed Steven Gerrard’s opening goal of the World Cup against USA thanks to an ITV HD glitch.

But that was not a problem for England devotee Mark Heelis, 28, from Abingdon, who secured tickets to the Rustenburg tie and was in the stadium to celebrate.

On the other hand, he was perhaps grateful keeper Rob Green’s gaff was hidden behind a huge advertising hoarding.

“Even though we were on the second tier of the stand, the whole of the six yard area was out of sight,” he said. “We saw the ball roll towards Rob Green and that was it.

“I couldn’t believe it when the American fans started celebrating. We didn’t realise for a couple of minutes it was actually a goal.

“It had been a great start to the game, but unfortunately they couldn’t give us the win we wanted.”

Mr Heelis was also caught up in the melee trying to leave the stadium and only made it back to Johannesburg at 5.30am after a scrum for bus spaces.

But the Environment Agency worker, who is following the team around South Africa with father David, was not downhearted.

He said: “The atmosphere is amazing, very colourful and noisy, mainly thanks to the vuvuzelas, and plenty of Brazilians, Argentineans, American and English everywhere we go.”

“We went on a tour of Soweto, which was a very humbling experience, visiting Nelson Mandela’s house and a youth centre in one the most deprived parts of the township. Nothing prepares you for the degree of poverty, especially as other parts of South Africa seem so wealthy.”

The Port Vale fan, who has followed England from Kazakhstan to Israel and Russia to Andorra to earn a spot at the World Cup, presented a football shirt to a local youngster.

Next on the agenda is a trip to Robben Island before England’s crunch match against Algeria tomorrow evening in Capetown.

Mark is then heading along the Garden Route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth in time for the final group game against Slovenia.

news@oxfordmail.co.uk If you have friends or family in South Africa, or are reading this online while at the World Cup, let us know. Call the newsdesk on 01865 425445 or email news@oxfordmail.co.uk