Today, the USA Men's Soccer team almost blew their World Cup run. The got down two goals early in their match against Slovenia. After halftime, however, the Stars & Stripes rallied to tie the match. This was a little bit of a let down . . .
In the same way that English fans were let down with a tie to the USA last Saturday, we were let down today. We should have beaten Slovenia. However, hats off to the Slovenian club. They played a hell of a game. Luckily, USA was resilient and managed to draw after scoring two second half goals. The coach's son, Michael Bradley scored an 82nd minute equalizer to force the draw. The boys almost won 3 minutes later, but Maurice Edu's goal was disallowed.
The stage was set for England to take control of Group C with a win against Algeria. England did not manage to score a goal and drew against Algeria, keeping the US in a good position to make it through to the elimination round. This was a gift. I don't think anybody expected Algeria to do so well against England.
So now, with one game to go, Slovenia tops the group with 4 points, USA is in second with 2 points, England has third with 2 points and Algeria sits at the bottom with 1 point. Next Wednesday, USA plays Algeria and England plays Slovenia at the exact same time.
USA makes it through to the next round if they win. If they draw against Algeria, they will need a Slovenia win (or low-scoring draw). USA can still win the group if they win with a larger goal differential than England winning over Slovenia.
Good luck, boys!
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