Matchday 13: Slovenia vs England & USA vs Algeria

Why do England always do this to me? Why do I do it to myself? They never make it easy. Is today the day I finally give up on them? If England go out of the World Cup today, I’m officially abandoning them forever.

Luckily, they’ve increased their chances by dropping Emile Heskey. Aaron Lennon is also dropped and James Milner starts. Perhaps a bit more solid on the right. There does not seem to be a change of system, however, from Fabio Capello. And they might have decreased their chances by dressing like numpties in an all red kit. All red looks a bit silly. Oh well, whatever helps them, I guess.

Oh there’s another match? No one told me although I suppose I could have figured it out from the loud crowd downstairs. USA drop Oguchi Onyewu, who had been good in defense. And Edu, the scorer of the disallowed goal, starts in place of Torres and Hercules Gomes comes in for the suspended Robbie Findley. I can’t wait for this. Here we go!

1st halves:

6th minute: Chances coming thick and fast in USA vs Algeria, as Algeria hit the post and USA go up the other end and the keeper saves. The corner comes to not much. England vs Slovenia staid so far, though Slovenia have a free kick. England have trouble clearing it. Oh look at that! Rooney with the ball and a great cross that’s cleared for a corner. He can play, after all.

16th minute: England actually playing a little bit as Frank Lampard hits a free kick which the keeper saves and then just misses a great through ball from Rooney. The playing surface is apparently a bit suspect after heavy rain. In the other game, it looks end-to-end. Bill Clinton is at that match.

21st minute: Chances in both matches. USA have the ball in the net but it’s chalked off for offside. It was at the third attempt at shooting after confusion in the Algerian defense. Slovenia have a shot that’s smothered by James. Slovenia do look scary coming forward, and Terry just had a last ditch tackle to stop a shooting opportunity. I can breathe again.

22nd minute: Yes yes yessss. Defoe scores! Milner crosses from the right, a cross Lennon would have botched, and Defoe scores, a shot that Heskey would have missed. Good switches from Capello. 1-0 to England.

27th minute: Lampard should have made that 2-0! Shit! The goal keeper knocks a ball into his path but he shoots it over the bar. No, Frank, must do better than that.

31st minute: Great from England. Defoe’s shot is saved into the path of Rooney, he passes to Gerrard whose shot is just saved and almost bobbles over the line Robert Green-style but the goalie manages to get a hold of it. This is the England we have been waiting for.

35th minute: USA should be ahead as Algeria barely survive. If it stands as it is, England and Slovenia are going through. One goal can change everything, though.

37th minute: How can Altidore miss that? He’s got an open enough goal and he shoots high, high over the bar. Terrible. They need a goal.

43rd minute: Algeria almost take the lead with a shot that goes just over the top corner of the goal. USA still taking potshots but I think they are getting frustrated.

Half-time: England are one up but this should be over. As the Englishman who just left to go to work said, “They are reverting to that cruise control that scares the crap out of me.” England need to keep the intensity high, just like they did after the goal when they had two good chances to put the game away. Still, this is a much, much improved display from England not that it would have taken much to improve over that Algeria debacle. USA are not taking their chances but at least they did not concede early. They can be unhappy with another disallowed goal though, that decision looks very marginal. Actually, just seen the replay and Dempsey is onside. Unfair on USA. Algeria still in with a chance.

2nd halves:

48th minute: England almost start on fire as a quickly taken corner by Rooney causes confusion in the box, and the ball comes to Defoe who just misses with his flick on. If they lose now, I won’t forgive him. Glen Johnson has a yellow for diving but it wasn’t a dive. He has to be careful now.

50th minute: Everyone thought that was a goal. Cole slips a great ball to Rooney who centers for Defoe to hit it in but it is, after all, offside. They have started the second half really well. Slovenia dive and get a free kick.

55th minute: Careless from Gerrard as England concede a free kick but it’s easily saved by James.

57th minute: England have a corner after a good spell of pressure. A bit of impressive play even down the right by Milner and Johnson. Terry’s header is saved amazingly on the line. That’s an awe-inspiring save. It’s Rooney and he’s onside! But he hits the post! Shit! And in the other game, USA hit the post! The rebound is hit wide by Dempsey when he really should have scored. Disappointment all round in this room from both sets of supporters.

61st minute: A text from my American friend after that Dempsey miss: “Fucking fuck!”

64th minute: England have another corner. There’s an amazingly obvious dive in the other game from an Algerian player. Worthy of an Italian, I’d say.

68th minute: Desperate, desperate defending from England. It all started with Gerrard giving the ball away, which he’s done a few times already, and Slovenia have a chance in the box. A block by Terry and then a block by Johnson before a shot goes wide. All of England can breathe again. The USA in the meanwhile keep missing chance upon chance.

73rd minute: Look who it is. It’s Joe Cole on for Wayne Rooney, who might be hurt. Sounds like he didn’t shake Capello’s hand as he came off. Is he mad at the boss?

83rd minute: Can England hold on? Can’t believe how nervous I am, my hands are shaking. Or that might be the overload of coffee. USA trying really hard, Algeria doing nothing except defending. DaMarcus Beasley comes on for USA. Didn’t know he was still around.

76th minute: “Clap clap clap, England, clap clap clap, England!” in this room, “USA! USA! USA!” in the next.

79th minute: A little disappointing from England as they try to waste time instead of going for the second goal. Same old England, really, in the end.

81st minute: It’s very tense in both matches as the Americans have a free kick. Saved again. Now they have a corner. Cleared. Slovenia are out if USA score.

85th minute: England are out if Slovenia score. And they have a corner. Heskey is on for Defoe. The Slovenia shot from the corner is at skyscraper height.

88th minute: My nerves are shredded. It should not be this narrow. They make it so hard on everyone involved.

92nd minute: England time-wasting. A bit of frustration in the room. USA might be going out in 4 minutes. Beasley is booked for handball. A corner for England. OHMYGODOHMYGOD! USA have scored! England are through with a 1-0 win! Slovenia will be out if it if it stays like this. Two minutes for the US to go through! There’s a red card for an Algerian player.

94th minute: Thirty seconds left. And they are through! What a devastating end for Slovenia. As the final whistle blew in their match, Donovan scores in the other. USA deserved to win and go through. They are in first place based on goals scored. Donovan is in tears as he’s interviewed, the crowd here went absolutely insane, I’m about to go insane.

Full-time: What an end to these games. USA kept shooting and kept trying and are rewarded for playing well. They deserve to win the group. England finish in second place and have the very real prospect of facing Germany in the second round. We’ll find out in about two and a half hours. I need to go and take a rest.

Match 22: Slovenia vs USA

Don’t know who to support for this game, really. I somehow cannot be too bothered. The US will probably win. The Slovenes will be hard to beat. 1-0 or 2-0 to US although I think I called for a draw in my prediction. “Go USA!” comes the yell from the packed bar. Um, yeah, I’m bored. Already.

13th minute: Maybe not anymore. Birsa has the ball in front of the penalty area and not a single American player closes him down. He has all the time in the world to tee himself up for a shot that flies in. Howard in the US goal stands and watches it go in. The US are left chasing a game again.

41st minute: The bar is extremely frustrated as there are three straight opportunities for the US. But the Slovenes have scored again! Is that offside? Despondency here. It’s not offside as the Slovenian player (I’ll learn to spell his name in a bit) runs onto the ball and slips it under Tim Howard. That is going to break the US as they were in the ascendancy right before the goal and suffered from an idiotic handball decision from the referee. 2-0 to Slovenia.

Half-time: That’s a shock for the USA especially since it seemed like they were going to score at any moment. They have played well in attack but their defense was culpable for both goals, failing to close down Birsa for the first and playing Ljubijankic onside for the second. I also wonder whether that bruised rib has made Tim Howard more tentative, although he can do little when his defense is playing this way. The Slovenes are playing much better than they did against Algeria and it’s because they have been given way too much space in midfield by the US. Coach Bradley has a big job to do at half-time to lift his players, who are certainly capable of coming back into this match. And yes, I am a bit excited, but the bar is now bored. “Same old USA” as everyone turns away and starts talking about England’s goalkeeping issues (the news is that James is starting in place of Fumbleduddy Green).

2nd half:

48th minute: Minutes from the restart and the US have reduced the deficit. Bradley makes two changes at half-time and the team gets the best possible start as Donovan runs onto a great ball over the top. It looks like the goalie had the angle closed down but Donovan with a great finish from a tight angle. We have a match.

51st minute: Almost! Donovan again, floating in a free kick that Onyewu almost makes contact with the ball at the far post. USA doing exactly what they need to do.

70th minute: A great game so far. The Slovenes have responded really well and have kept their shape but their final ball now seems to be lacking. The US keep coming but have managed a few shots at goal. Slovenia’s keeper Handanovic has kept them in the game. At the moment, Slovenia conceding a lot of free kicks and have two yellow cards in two minutes.

82nd minute: You can’t say that they don’t deserve it, and it is the coach’s son, Michael Bradley, who pulls the USA level. It’s 2-2. This bar has never been louder; I’m the only one left seated but everybody wants to high-five me anyway. How wrong I was about this match.

86th minute: That’s the USA’s win stolen from out of their hands. Donovan floats in another free kick and Edu has the ball in the net but the referee waves it off for an offside. It’s simply not the case and there’s even a foul on Bradley in the box that could have been a penalty. Two bad referees we’ve seen today.

88th minute: Slovenia aren’t done yet either. A header is saved by Howard. USA have every cause for grievance. The referee has been atrocious.

89th minute: A long range shot from Slovenia again, and Howard has to punch it away. He’s furious with his defense as he should be, no one closed the player down. We’re into three minutes of added time.

94th minute: Very soon to the end here. I’m unsure now whether that USA goal was disallowed for offside or for a USA foul. Whatever it was, a horrible decision.

Full-time: The referee is being roundly booed. Without him, the USA would have the win. All credit to them for a cracking second half, Bradley’s half-time decisions paid off and they really should be the winners here. Who would have thought this game would have been one of the best so far? Certainly not Mufti. But, not to toot my own horn (actually, yes, to toot my own horn), I correctly predicted a win for Serbia and a draw in this game, so now I’m up 15-10 on El Pastor. It won’t last, but I must savour it! Take that, Pastor!

Finger Injury Knocks Mufti Out of World Cup

And the list grows! Robben and Drogba are major doubts, John Obi Mikel is definitely out now, Essien and Ballack we already knew about. Even the Americans got in on the act as Jozy Altidore was laid up with an injury.

Do you think this is Supercat’s fault? Is he trying to spoil our World Cup by systematically making sure that star players don’t travel to South Africa? Stop it, Supercat, I want to see these guys play!

We might as well stop trying to predict who will be winning the World Cup and start predicting which team can survive the World Cup with most of its star players intact. That team might well be the one winning the Cup while the rest will be left playing what-if.