Doo
rs Open For Les Fennecs To Overcome Their Prey
Algeria’s 2010 World Cup hopes suffered a big blow in their opening game as they went down 1-0 to Slovenia. But Les Fennec rekindled their visions by holding European giants England to a 0-0 draw. This shocking result earned them a vital point in Group C and they now remain in contention for a place in the Round of 16. However, only a victory against the United States will do for the Algerians and they are aware of that.
“We showed the best of who we are [against England] and that’s the way we will have to play against the United States in order to win and to qualify for the Last 16. We will play very well in our next game and we will win,” Captain Anther Yahia stated.
Striker Karim Matmour also predicted the match to be an open one and promised a win to Algerian fans while Hassan Yebda echoed his team mate’s words by declaring:
“We have a chance to qualify if we clinch a victory against the Americans. I swear to all Algerian supporters that we will play well. After that, we will see how far we can go in the competition.”
Like key defender Majid Bougherra underlined, it is down for Algeria to stand up against the USA and prove that their result against England was not a fluke.
USA Committed To Win
Relying on what will be happening between Slovenia and England in Group C’s other game would be a mistake for the Americans. All their focus is based on one thing, which is to keep their future alive as they have their destiny in their hands. The United State’s national soccer team has never benefited of as much support as it is now.
A record 12 million viewers followed the USA’s 2010 World Cup opening game against England on TV despite Major League Baseball and the NBA finals filling America’s sports calendar. Captain Landon Donovan, who expressed his gratitude and surprise at having many supporters in stadiums and back home like never before, is keen not to let his people down.
“We’ll have to give everything we have against Algeria to keep our future in our hands,” the skipper told FIFA.com.
Actually, the USA were in a more difficult situation in the 2009 Confederations Cup but they still managed to turn the tables around as they stunned Egypt with a 3-0 victory and benefited from Brazil’s emphatic win over rivals Italy. Bob Bradley’s men therefore have the right and the necessary amount of experience to believe in their chances of progressing into the Last 16.
Fairness Would Have Almost Secured The USA With Round of 16 Tickets
Following the controversy that surrounded USA’s 2-2 against Slovenia, American supporters will be angry should their team fail to make it past the group stages of the 2010 World Cup. In truth, Edu’s late goal was actually clean and should have stood instead of being disallowed by Malian referee Coulibaly.
With a 3-2 result, the USA would have been on 4 points and thus at the top of Group C as Slovenia would have remained on 3 points above England and Algeria. Bob Bradley gave his thought upon this controversial matter as he affirmed:
Visit the World Cup Groups, Tables & Standings pages to see the point breakdown for Group C.
“On the disallowed goal, I ended up feeling badly for the team and for our fans because a 3-2 comeback win would have given us a real chance of advancing. It would have been something pretty special for everybody.
“But, it didn’t happen that way so we put it behind us. We understand that if we win [against Algeria], we will advance. We also understand that there is a possibility of us winning our group. We have moved forward.”
