We just saw the best match of the tournament - This is just proof great matches can involve nearly anyone. Highly anticipated matches between quality teams have disappointed so far, but attacking ingenuity reigned supreme here. Slovenia, while playing a largely negative possession game made the most of its chances, particularly the first one, a rare shot in this tournament on net from distance. The US, with no real defense to speak of, threw everything they had at Slovenia in the 2nd half culminating in Michael Bradley's goal from the little seen 3-2-3-2 formation. If only every match had this level of attacking or even the will to attack, this tournament would be much better for it.
Slovenia got the result it wanted, just not how it wanted - If anyone had told the Slovenians they would score twice in the first half, they would have taken it and said the game was done with a win in the bank considering the record of giving up just four goals in 10 qualifying matches in the group stage and one in two matches against Russia in the playoff. Slovenia had a 2-0 lead. They blew it and now they have legitimate reason for concern. Goal differential very well may come into play and the Slovenians with only a 1-0 win over Algeria could be in some trouble.
The referee was awful - Yes the US got screwed at the end and should have had a third goal that was disallowed by a phantom call. Most outside Slovenia probably agree that the disallowed goal was a terrible goal but that doesn't even begin to get into the bad refereeing today (on both sides). It seemed all day long the whistle was blowing for marginal calls. On a regular basis, both captains were appealing to the referee after dubious decisions and the yellow cards flew today for seemingly no reason at all. While many want Robbie Findlay benched for the next game (and he will be because of suspension), the yellow card he received for a handball that was clearly incidental and may have hit him in the face and not the shoulder was quite harsh.
What's next for the USA - The Americans need a win against Algeria, preferably by more than one goal. A two goal win likely sends the US through no matter the results in other matches as the US would go through directly or win the goal differential battle with either Slovenia or England if it came to that.
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