The first half was Slovenia's, they were able to grab two goals, the first in the 13th minute with Birsa who with a tentative strike from outside the area somehow gets it past Howard who was rooted to the spot. USA then pushed for the equalizer, with Torres trying from the free-kick, and Donovan just short of tapping the ball in from a great build-up. While there was bad defending on the first, the second was even worse with just plain bad marking from the USA defence as Slovenia put Ljubijankic on goal with a simple through ball, and the Slovenian coolly tucked away the second.
After halftime, Bob Bradley changes USA up a bit by taking off Torres and Findley for Edu and Feilhaber, and right away in the 48th minute, Landon Donovan grabs a goal. Slovenian defender misjudges the bounce as Donovan runs towards goal to smash it into the top of the goal. Then the USA really started pushing, and they eventually found the equalizer in the 82nd with Michael Bradley, coach Bob Bradley's son. Donovan plays a high ball for Altidore who flicks it on for an incoming Bradley who then volleys it over Handanovic for the equalizer.
Then the USA thought they got the winner with Maurice Edu tapping it in from a free kick, but the referee disallows the goal for an unseen reason to everyone else, so the match ends 2-2 with the USA players furious with the referee's decision.
outrageous no-goal. Does anyone even know why it was disallowed? All the replay showed was Slovenian defender with two arms around USA player wrestling him to the ground in front of goal.
ReplyDeleteGreat performance from Borussia Mönchengladbach's Michael Bradley. I hope that he continues his career in the Bundesliga after the World Cup. If he keeps this momentum going he might gather the attention of bigger clubs such as Bayer 04 Leverkusen, BV Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04.
ReplyDeleteApparently it was disallowed for pushing, a ridiculous call but the ref must've seen some pushing going on.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for Bradley, wouldn't he be perfect for Werder Bremen? They've just lost Ozil, and Bradley could link up well with Marin... What do you think?
Thx for the comments!
This is the reason not to allow referees from "exotic soccer countries" for events such as WC, and to engage replay coverage for referees use in hard to catch decisions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about replay coverage (although it would be difficult to put in place), but I like the fact that there are referees from many different countries.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the inclusion of exotic referees helps spread soccer/football in their countries, and raise the level of quality.