THE TEAM MAY DESERVE BETTER...:

US fight back to draw with Slovenia (Reuters, June 18. 2010)

But Landon Donovan scored a brilliant individual goal three minutes after the break and, as the Americans poured forwards, Michael Bradley, son of coach Bob Bradley, grabbed an equaliser eight minutes from time.

The United States got the ball in the net five minutes from the end through Maurice Edu but it was controversially disallowed by the referee who spotted an apparent infringement by the American.

"I still don't know why the goal was disallowed," an angry Bradley, who remonstrated with the Malian official at the end of the match, said. "Nobody knows at this moment."

...but Bob Bradley is getting exactly what he deserves for playing for draws against teams we should beat.

The disallowed goal, by the way, perfectly illustrates why the offsides rule is stupid and why there should be an NHL style goal crease. On every single set play it is a completely arbitrary matter whether the ref whistles play dead or not because there are infractions by both sides on all of them.

MORE:
Landon Donovan starts USA fightback against Slovenia (Sean Ingle, 6/18/10, guardian.co.uk)

It was clear the USA had to change things and the coach, Bradley, did so at half-time, bringing Torres and Findley off, and Edu and Benny Feilhaber on.

Immediately Donovan seized on a mistake, ran into the box and shot from close range. Handanovic seemed to flinch as the bullet went past his head and high into the back of the net.

Suddenly the large US support was revitalised and the chants of "USA! USA!" were heard above out the tuneless lament of the vuvuzelas. The chances continued to come. Onyewu missed a free-kick by inches; Altidore breezed past Marko Suler only to hesitate on the edge of the box, allowing the Slovenian defender to recover before, a few minutes later, hitting a slapshot straight at Handanovic.

The pressure was building and Slovenia resorted to increasingly desperate measures to break up USA's rhythm. First Suler was booked for barging over Altidore outside the penalty box. Then, three minutes later, Andraz Kirm joined him in the book after a trip on Steve Cherundolo. And Bojan Jokic also saw yellow after going through Donovan.

U.S. vs. Slovenia Ends in Controversial Tie (MATTHEW FUTTERMAN, 6/18/10, WSJ)

For 45 minutes, Team U.S.A. was out-hustled, out-muscled and out-thought by a sturdy and determined Slovenian team that rarely bent and never broke at Ellis Park. The Slovenians brought a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead into the locker room that, if it stood, would have been a major embarrassment for a team drawn from the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the planet. Slovenia has fewer inhabitants than Brooklyn.

But U.S. coach Bob Bradley sent his most offensive lineup onto the pitch for the second half, moving stars Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan up to the front line to mount an all-or-nothing attack that would likely determine his fate as the titular head of American soccer.

By the end of the game Mr. Bradley and Team U.S.A had lived to fight another day. Its 2-2 draw on clutch goals from Mr. Donovan and Michael Bradley, the coach's son, salvaged not only the legitimacy of U.S. soccer but its chances to advance.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 18, 2010 11:38 AM