US draw 2-2 with Slovenia, keep qualfication hopes alive

JOHANNESBURG - The United States fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Slovenia in the football World Cup and kept their qualification chances alive after a spectacular match at Ellis Park here.

Slovenia, the team from the smallest country in the World Cup, had anticipated becoming the first to qualify to the knock-out stages of the tournament after going 2-0 in front before half time with goals from Valter Birsa and Zlatan Ljubijankic.

But second-half goals from Man of the Match Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley capped a gritty performance from the Americans Friday.

“I am proud of our guys, I dont’ know that there are many teams that would have responded in that way to going two goals down,” Donovan said after the match.

The result put Slovenia in first place in the Group C standings with four points from two games. However, the Europeans will still have to work hard to qualify for the Round of 16 when they meet England Wednesday.

“It was a great match but it shouldn’t have happened, we made such dumb mistakes in the second half,” said Slovenian coach Matjaz Kek.

The US, which produced another impressive performance after their 1-1 draw with England, play Algeria in their final group match.

US coach Bob Bradley made only one change from the side’s opening game, bringing in the more expansive Jose Torres in the midfield for Ricardo Clark, while Kek preferred Zlatan Ljubijankic to Zlatko Dedic up front in an otherwise unchanged team that beat Algeria 1-0.

Slovenia looked the more organised side from the start and had the first clear chance of the day after just nine minutes - Birsa feeding an inviting cross from the right that Milivoje Novakovic failed to volley into the back of the net.

But it took the Europeans only four more minutes to score, and it turned out to be one of the best goals of the tournament so far, with Birsa firing an accurate and powerful left-footer from 30 yards that US goalkeeper Tim Howard could do nothing about.

Having failed to make an impact during the opening minutes, the US started applying more and more pressure during the latter part of the first half and could have equalized in either the 35th or the 40th.

But on the first occasion, a great free-kick from Torres was saved by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic; and on the second, it was a Slovenian defender who was to deny Donovan just before the goal line.

In the 39th, Robbie Findley was booked for handling the ball. It was the forward’s second booking of the tournament, meaning he will miss next week’s key game against Algeria.

And there was more bad news for the Americans in the 41st, when Ljubijankic beat the off side trap on the break and produced a cool low-shot right-footer to extend Slovenia’s lead.

However, as they had shown by coming from behind to equalise against England, the US are not a team that gives up easily. And Bradley’s boys deservedly pulled one back just after the break, with Donovan making an unopposed run on the right and firing the ball in from short range.

From then onwards, there were plenty of chances falling the US’s way.

In the 68th, for instance, Donovan fired in a dangerous free-kick from the edge of the box; the ball was blocked by a Slovenian defender and ended towards Jozy Altidore, but the forward’s finish was too central to worry Handanovic.

The Americans’ grit was finally rewarded just eight minutes from time, when Altidore headed a ball towards Bradley who poked the ball into the back of the net from short range.

And there was more excitement for the match’s 45,570 spectators during the final minutes of the game, when a US goal was controversially disallowed for an American foul in the Slovenian box by referee Koman Coulibaly.

Donovan later said he was “gutted” at the goal being disallowed, saying the Mali ref may have paid the price for his lack of experience.

“It was the guy’s first World Cup game and maybe he got caught up in the moment,” the LA Galaxy midfielder said.