Filed under: FIFA World Cup, Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States
IRENE, South Africa — No soccer game is decided by just one play. Certainly the mysterious and controversial call that nullified the Americans’ third tally against Slovenia on Friday evening remains a topic of conversation here in South Africa, but the first goal of that game, scored by the Dragons’ Valter Birsa, was just as important.
That goal, a stunning long-range strike in the 13th minute, marked the second time in two World Cup games that the U.S. fell behind early. England scored just four minutes into the tournament opener. Birsa’s goal also represented the seventh time in the past 17 matches, dating back to the initial World Cup qualifier of 2009, that coach Bob Bradley’s first-choice team has yielded a goal in the opening 20 minutes. On four occasions, it’s happened in the first 10 minutes.
“It’s something that’s been with this team for a couple of years now. It’s not something we enjoy, don’t get me wrong. No one likes going behind in a game,” goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “But for whatever reason we seem to be very resilient and we start to play more to our strengths when we get desperate.”
That ability to perform so effectively when things look their worst, but the inability to produce those results from the opening whistle, is the key question surrounding the U.S. (0-0-2) heading into Wednesday’s first round finale against Algeria (0-1-1). A win, and the Americans are through to the second round. A tie or a loss and they’re in deep trouble. Falling behind for a third straight time (especially to Algeria, which has allowed just one goal in its two games) probably isn’t a good idea.
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