Group C preview: USA v Algeria
If the USA fail to finish top of Group C come the end of the third round of matches, or even worse, not make it through to the knockout stages of the World Cup, referee Komari Coulbaly may be receiving a stern letter or two from the United States Soccer Association.
In their previous game against Slovenia, the USA were denied a famous comeback and three points by a comical refereeing decision from Coulbaly. Having turned around a two-goal deficit in the second half, Landon Donavon’s free-kick was turned in by Maurice Edu with two minutes remaining, but was disallowed for apparent infringement by an American player despite the Slovenians man-handling at least five American attackers in the penalty area.
That 2-2 result has left USA’s qualification hanging in the balance, meaning nothing less than three points against Algeria will be good enough to keep their World Cup campaign alive.
However, a draw would suffice for Bob Bradley’s side if England fail to beat Slovenia.
If the United States and England both draw, the Americans would advance provided they end up with more goals scored than the English, currently the USA have three goals, while England have scored one.
Don’t count out the plucky Algerians out though, as their solid defensive performance against England showed that they are still alive and kicking in this group, and if results go their way they could also still qualify. The Africans require England to beat Slovenia and hope that they can do the business against the Americans. But considering they will need to beat their opponents by more than one goal, it looks unlikely that the side who have failed to score in the tournament to date, will possess enough firepower to turnaround an inferior goal difference to the Slovenians.
USA coach Bradley is well aware of the task that his side face, admitting that the tactics the Algerian management team employed against England worked very well.
“As they go forward and get the right numbers in the attack, they have the ability to create one-on-ones and go by you,” said Bradley.
“They have found a balance of defending with numbers, and they take their chances well with some of their creative attacking players going forward. It means that our ability to be disciplined and to finish attacks is going to be very important.”
Clint Dempsey, the USA midfielder who scored their equaliser against England in the opening game, was in agreement with his coach about that the quality of their opponents.
"Initially it's going to be a game that's going to be tight," Dempsey said.
"And then as the game goes on, seeing how things go, it's going to have to open up, no matter what. People are going to start taking risks because we know that pretty much a draw is not going to get you through."
American striker Robbie Findley is suspended after receiving his second yellow card against Slovenia, while coach Bradley has a tough decision to make whether to give starts to Benny Feilhaber and Edu, following their second-half cameos from the bench against Slovenia.
Algeria will welcome back striker Abdelkader Ghezzal after a one-match suspension following a red card in the opening game, but dropped captain Yazid Mansouri will be left out once again.
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