A goal in the 79th minute by Robert Koren sets the tone for Slovenia’s 1-0 win over Algeria. This is Slovenia’s first ever world cup victory and makes Group C a bit more complicated as they lead the scoreboard with three points.
What we expected?
The US and England team seemed to complicate things. If any of these team scored than we were looking at more than just “filler” for Group C
Robert Koren and Milivoje Novajovic on the Slovenia side and Antar Yahia and Andelkader Ghezzal on the Algeria side should really warm things up. .
First Half
The first half of the game was all about defense as goalkeepers 
Fawzi Chouachi (Algeria) and Samir Handanovic (Slovenia) worked overtime to make some big blocks during the first half. In the first few minutes a free kick by Belhadj almost screamed goal if it weren’t for Handanovic sending it over the crossbar.
Second Half
The second half started getting interesting when Ghezzal gets his second yellow card of the game at the 73rd minute which caused Algeria to play the remainder of the game on man short. This changed the game for the Algerian team.
At the 79th minute, Koren takes a shot passed two defenders into the right corner of the net. But in a play very similar to Green’s yesterday at England – USA game, Chouachi let the ball slip right out of his fingers.
What does this mean?
Slovenia surprisingly takes the early lead in surprising underdog fashion, and has made it very uncomfortable for both England and US teams. It will be interesting to see what’s to come for the Group. Unfortunately for Algeria, they must now get at least four points in the next two games if they want to make it to the next level.
What’s Next?
Some very very exciting games as group leader Slovenia takes on the U.S. on June 18 at 9:30am and Algeria goes head to head with England on the same day at 2:00pm.
Comments
Cecilia Esquivel
June 15th, 2010 - 2:23:00 PM
You have done it once more. Amazing article!
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