By Daniel Kelley
(OFFICIAL ONELOVE U.S. CORESPONDENT)
Most people were pretty divided on how this game would be. Many thought that this would be a complete blowout, a real USA thumping of Slovenia. After all, Slovenia is a country that is about the same size as say…Houston, Texas. Others however recognized that although Slovenia is tiny blip on the map in Europe they actually play some pretty decent soccer. They only had four goals scored against them in world cup qualifying, and knocked out well-regarded Russia in a playoff to make it to the world cup. Sure enough Slovenia gave team USA a real scare with some solid play and two goals that caught the red, white, and blue completely off guard.
The game got off to quite a start when Clint Dempsey unleashed a vicious looking elbow on Zlatan Ljubijankic of Slovenia, try saying that name fast five times, literally seconds after the kickoff. Dempsey was extremely fortunate to escape without any sort of punishment. From there the tone was set for an extremely bizarre and physical game, both in terms of officiating and playing. Valter Birsa of Slovenia went on to score on an incredible shot that left Tim Howard frozen, and then Ljubijankic got his revenge from the elbow and beat the USA offside trap to score. USA was stunned, and looked like the euphoria from the England game had not yet worn off. Somehow though team USA woke up and fought hard for one of the most astonishing comebacks in the team’s history.
With embarrassing officiating from Malian ref Koman Coulibaly team USA definitely had the odds against them. Coulibaly’s performance was so bad that its already being said that he will not officiate any more games in the tournament. There is much evidence to be seen for why he has no place officiating such high profile games. Just see the call on Findley for a handball, Marko Suler taking down Altidore, and of course the goal Maurice Edu scored that was called back for a phantom foul. Coulibaly robbed USA of a deserved victory and should really be ashamed for his amateur hour officiating.
All controversy aside USA played a poor first half and deserved to be down by two goals. Bob Bradley must have had some stern and inspiring words at halftime because the team came out to play with fire in their eyes for the second half. Landon Donovan scored a wonder goal on a tight angle, sort of similar to Maicon’s goal in the Brazil vs. North Korea game, and had a hand in Michael Bradley’s tying goal. Great comeback from team USA, they needed a win but a tie still keeps them in it. Also thanks to England’s Abysmal draw with Algeria everyone is still alive in this group. Crazy game tonight, but the thought that Team USA was cheated by the ref will linger in the minds of USA fans for a long time, especially if they don’t end up advancing out of the group.
Player Ratings:
1
Tim Howard-7- Has a bad habit of coming too far off his line and getting punished for it. There is no denying that the first goal was a nice shot but Howard misjudged the shot and put himself in a position where all he could do was watch the ball fly in the back of net. Played a solid game other than the first goal, and did all he could for the second one.
Oguchi Onyewu-5- Gooch looked sluggish. Thought he might be back to his old self after the England game but he still looks very rusty.
Jay DeMerit-7.5-Completely dominant in the air. Won just about every ball he went for in the second half. Still has the occasional miscommunication with his partner in the central defense and needs to work on his passing game. Played with real conviction and determination, great performance.
Carlos Bocanegra-5.5- Tough game for ‘los, he was getting worked pretty hard on the left side the whole game.
Steve Cherundolo-6-Definitely didn’t have the amazing game he had against England. Didn’t seem as sharp tonight but still had some nice plays both defensively and offensively.
José Torres-6.5- Had the opportunity to show the world his ability to hold down the middle and didn’t really do much. Showed some fancy footwork and took a great free kick that nearly turned into a goal.
Michael Bradley-8-Bradley was all over the field, both breaking up plays and making them. Hard working performance capped off by a clutch goal.
Landon Donovan-9-Landy Cakes stepped it up in a big way in this game. While a lot of the other players seemed resigned to losing he got fired up. Had a ridiculously nice goal and was involved with Bradley’s tying goal.
Clint Dempsey-6-Unbelievably fortunate to not get ejected for his elbow thirty seconds into the game. Drifted in and out the match and had a somewhat anonymous game for Deuce.
Robbie Findley -5.5- Someone needs to remind Findley that forwards are supposed to score, or at least try to score. Made good runs but was just too passive when it came time to attempt a shot.
Jozy Altidore-7- Huffed and puffed all game long and gave center back Marko Suler a very tough time.
Substitutes
Benny Feilhaber-5.5- A surprising half time substitution. Took some nice touches and calmed things down in the middle. His defensive play was pretty terrible though, seemed to forget that his team was losing.
Maurice Edu -6- Had a disallowed goal that would have made him the golden boy of American soccer. Sadly it was disallowed on one of the most shockingly bad calls in soccer history.
Herculez Gomez-6.5- Gomez has this undeniable ability to change a game. Made immediate impact with his presence in the penalty area and nearly scored a goal himself late on.
