The United States needed a stoppage time goal from Landon Donovan to see off Algeria 1-0 in Pretoria and advance to the knockout round in the 2010 World Cup. The USA thought they had a goal in the 20th minute, but midfielder Clint Dempsey was called offside. Both teams hit the woodwork, Algeria in the first-half and the USA in the second. England’s 1-0 win over Slovenia in Group C’s other game means England and the United States advance to the knockout round with the USA winning Group C.
An emotional Landon Donovan told ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap: “I’ve been on a long journey for the last four years… I’m shocked and I’m so proud of our guys. It’s unbelievable. They were pushing a lot to try to score. We had to take some risks and our guys in the back did a great job. I got the ball, gave it to Jozy, and made a good run. Clint made a good run in the middle and the ball fell to me and time kind of stopped. Can’t miss from there.”
US coach Bob Bradley made three changes from the game against Slovenia, starting Herculez Gomez in place of suspended forward Robbie Findley. Maurice Edu replaced Jose Francisco Torres in midfield while Oguchi Onyewu was left out in favor of Jonathan Bornstein. Gomez would play the first-half before being subbed off for Benny Feilhaber. Edson Buddle would come on for Edu in the 64th and DaMarcus Beasley replaced Bornstein in the 80th.
The US finished with 8 of their 20 shots on goal. Algeria put 3 of their 19 on frame. Algeria led 6 to 4 on corners and 21 to 10 on fouls. Captain Antar Yahia was sent off for a second yellow in stoppage time.
In the other Group C game, surprise starter Jermain Defoe scored the game’s only goal in the 23rd minute for England’s 1-0 win over Slovenia.
Group C Final Standings
Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts.
USA 3 1 0 2 4 3 +1 5
ENG 3 1 0 2 2 1 +1 5
SVN 3 1 1 1 3 2 0 4
ALG 3 0 1 1 0 1 -2 1
— GAME REPORT —
Match: United States vs. Algeria
Date: June 23, 2010
Competition: FIFA World Cup
Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium – Tshwane/Pretoria, South Africa
Kickoff: 4 p.m. local time
Attendance: 35,827
Weather: 66 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 1 1
Algeria 0 0 0
USA – Landon Donovan 90+1 minute
Lineups:
USA: 1-Tim Howard; 6-Steve Cherundolo, 15-Jay DeMerit, 3-Carlos Bocanegra (capt.), 12- Jonathan Bornstein (7-DaMarcus Beasley, 80); 10-Landon Donovan, 4-Michael Bradley, 19-Maurice Edu (14-Edson Buddle, 64), 8-Clint Dempsey; 9-Herculez Gomez (22-Benny Feilhaber, 46), 17-Jozy Altidore
Subs not used: 2-Jonathan Spector, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 11-Stuart Holden, 13 -Ricardo Clark, 16-José Torres, 18-Brad Guzan, 21-Clarence Goodson, 23-Marcus Hahnemann
Not Eligible: 20-Robbie Findley (suspension)
Head Coach: Bob Bradley
ALG: 23-Raïs M’Bohli; 2-Madjid Bougherra, 3-Nadir Belhadj, 4-Anthar Yahia (capt); 5-Rafik Halliche, 8-Mehdi Lacen, 13-Karim Matmour (10-Rafik Saifi, 85), 15-Karim Ziani (17-Adlane Guedioura, 69), 19-Hassan Yebda; 11-Rafik Djebbour (9-Abdelkader Ghezzal, 65), 21-Foued Kadir
Subs not used: 1-Lounes Gaouaoui, 16-Faouzi Chaouchi; 6-Yazid Mansouri, 7-Ryad Boudebouz, 12-Habib Bellaid, 14-Abdelkader Laifaoui, 18-Carl Medjani, 20-Djamel Mesbah, 22-Djamal Abdoun
Head Coach: Rabah Saadane
Stats Summary: USA / ALG
Shots: 22 / 19
Shots on Goal: 10 / 4
Saves: 4 / 9
Corner Kicks: 4 / 6
Fouls: 11 / 21
Offside: 1 / 4
Misconduct Summary:
ALG – Hassan Yebda (caution) 12th minute
USA – Jozy Altidore (caution) 62
ALG – Anthar Yahia (caution) 76
ALG – Mehdi Lacen (caution) 83
USA – DaMarcus Beasley (caution) 90
ALG – Anthar Yahia (caution) 90+3
ALG – Anthar Yahia (sent off) 90+3
Officials:
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Hermans (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Vromans (BEL)
Fourth Official: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (MAS)
