WC2010 Liveblog: Algeria v. Slovenia

It’s time to find out just how valuable the U.S. team’s point vs. England will be.

This morning, we begin with Algeria and Slovenia, the other two teams in Group C. I really only know what I read in the excellent previews by NY Kid and James T, respectively. Go check ‘em out.

Interesting note: James T has steadfastly held that England and Slovenia get out of this group. If Slovenia win handily, I think he might have the second half of that more right than he knows. If Slovenia draw, the USMNT would seem to be in a great spot to advance. Two wins could even secure the group. Tee hee.

Now, before the match, I have to ask how the West Coast people (TFA and me) got the first two 4:30 a.m. matches?! Lazy East Coast Elite. And give it up for TFA. He was amazing yesterday. Thanks, also, to the people at Keeley’s and the people commenting here on the site. It was one of the biggest days ever for UF, and it’s in large part due to you all. Now piss off.

One other thing: I hate Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Hate it. As some of you know from my comments yesterday, I made a round trip flight from Northern California, through Denver, to Kansas City and back, all in one day. About 18 hours in airports and planes. But it was worth it.

But effing O’Hare threw my life into a tailspin with a two-hour delay of the KC-Denver flight for “random weather.” Because of the random weather (FYI, KC and Denver had no problem with torrential downpours all day), I was literally sprinting from Gate B46 in the United terminal to gate B24… in four minutes… with a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old in tow. They had to reopen the door to let us in.

So, in closing, f**k you O’Hare. And if the rest of Chicago is like that, well…

With that, on to the game.

LINEUPS:

Algeria: 16-Faouzi Chaouchi; 2 Majid Bougherra, 5 Rafik Halliche, 4 Antar Yahia, 3 Nadir Belhadj; 13 Karim Matmour, 19 Hassan Yebda, 8 Medhi Lacen, 15 Karim Ziani; 21 Fouad Kadir, 11 Rafik Djebbour.

Slovenia: 1 Samir Handanovic; 2 Miso Brecko, 4 Marko Suler, 5 Bostjan Cesar, 13 Bojan Jokic; 10 Valter Birsa, 8 Robert Koren, 18 Aleksandar Radosavljevic, 17 Andraz Kirm; 14 Zlatko Dedic, 11 Milivoje Novakovic.

Honestly, this is too effing early for me to be awake. But I’m the stupid one who agreed.

FULL TIME: 1-0 Slovenia. OK. There we go. Really poor game, but it makes the task clear for the USMNT: You have to win twice, I think.We’ll see if they can. Sorry I’ve been surly, but I’m tired and going back to bed. Enjoy your day, folks.

92nd minute: Algeria with another half-chance, but they just have no ability to put the ball away. England could beat this team 4-0 or 5-0. We need to beat Slovenia and beat them by more than 1-0 to really move into a good spot.

94th minute: It’s over. Please. Slovenia took their one chance all game. Algeria are a hapless, borderline dirty side.

90th minute: 4 minutes? really? I want to go back to bed!

90th minute: God willing there won’t be much added time. Looks like the USMNT have a real shot to get points, but the MUST play up, not down to the opponent, which we all know is one of their biggest problems.

89th minute: That wasn’t really a Green gaffe. The keeper was just out of position and didn’t reach out properly. Just s**tty play.

87th minute: more subs, but do we really care? Timmay might have a broken rib. F**K YOU EMILE HESKEY!

87th minute: For those who remember Chick Hearn, this game is in the fridge. The eggs are chillin’ the Jell-o is jiggling and the butter is getting hard.

86th minute: If Howard really had broken ribs, that makes a couple of the second half saves truly heroic. That guy is a beast.

85th minute: What’s that Harkes says?! Timmay has broken ribs?! NOOOOOOOO. He said he’s going to check it out, but we need to follow that.

83rd minute: I don’t know about that Roberto Carlos look-alike, but Algeria looks like No. 2 for sure.

82nd minute: Slovenia does nothing for 80 minutes, then gets one shot and the Algerian keeper makes a hash of it to lose the match (most likely). Amazing. And now the USMNT match with Slovenia appears to be a must-win because I don’t see any way that Algeria gets anything against England.

81st: Oh, sure, blame that s**t on me.

80th minute: GOAL!!!!!!!!! After all this s**tty play, a pretty tame shot from Robert Koren gets past the lame keeper from Algeria. That was just like Robert Green’s yesterday. 1-0 Slovenia. Shocking. Truly shocking.

80th minute: I’m sorry, but Slovenia are horrible. That is all.

78th minute: ALMOST HOWLER! Horrible pass from the Slovenian keeper, gives it straight to Algeria, but (shocker) a horrible first touch and the keeper recovers to smother it.

77th minute: So you have the extra man, Slovenia, what do you do with it? Answer: Give Algeria all the possession.

76th minute: @Ryan: You would think so, but now you know Algeria are going to park the bus.

74th minute: RED CARD!!!!! Ghezzal comes in 10 minutes ago, gets an immediate yellow card for a harsh tackle, then dives for a ball and obviously goes with the intentional handball. two yellows, thanks for playing. Now we’ll see if Slovenia can make something of it. Wow. First excitement all game and it’s from an idiot sticking the hand straight out.

72nd minute: I really don’t think either of these sides is sophisticated enough to start throwing the ball on frame. Algeria with another nice service into the box that goes begging.

70th minute: Ghezzal with a nice run, but he can’t get the header on frame. Shocking, I know.

70th minute: OMG, that Algerian fan has the worst teeth ever.

69th minute: So now the most interesting this is an Algerian fan who climbed up on top of a light stand. Good times.

68th minute: Sorry. My son was just asking why nobody has scored. Basically, I said because both teams suck.

66th minute: I love this. We’re all reduced to “hey, that was almost something good”

65th minute: No, that’s not a penalty. Algerian defender hit all ball there.

62nd minute: I can’t even comment on the last two minutes. It’s like that game in the Simpsons episode. And of course it ends with a ball over the bar.

60th minute: Kirm with a nice CHANCE! on the left, but he shoots is directly at the Algeria keeper,

58th minute: Look at all the South Africa supporters in their yellow shirts! Oh, those are empty seats? Heh.

57th minute: With so many French-born players, no wonder Algeria sucks. (What?! The NY Kid doesn’t appear to be awake)

54th minute: I loves these little icons. Well done to Ned.

53rd minute: Some Slovenian for another Slovenian.

52nd minute: Can I just set up a script to copy and paste “ball sent in, unfortunately it’s not handled and goes out for a goal kick” for the next 38 minutes?

50th minute: A nice ball in for Algeria annnnnnd, a bad first touch sends it over the line.

50th minute: Wait, there’s a pass that’s missed. Who would have thought?

49th minute: another cross, another miss. sigh

47th minute: Honestly, is there anyone watching right now who thinks the U.S. and England shouldn’t advance with 7 points each?

47th minute: Gullit pointed out at halftime that this game is also at altitude, which he says is partly to blame for the ball flying too much. Or maybe these teams suck.

46th minute: Time for another 45 thrilling minutes.

HALFTIME: And a boring-ass first half is mercifully ended. I’m going to take a nap and be back in 15 minutes. Talk amongst yourselves.

44th minute: Anonsters, we have liveblog plans for every match. We just don’t post them until just before gametime. Spectator appears to be stepping up for the Ghana match, then The Likely Lad is scheduled for the Germany match later — but all liveblogs are subject to last minute hangover.

43rd minute: Then, a Slovenia CHANCE! A great turn from Birsa, and the Algeria keeper does really well to save the ball over the bar. The first real shot in this match.

42nd minute: So during yesterday’s USMNT match, there were more than 200 photos in the Soccernet Gamecast photo feed. Today? 31, and none in the past 11 minutes. Well done.

40th minute: Matmour with a nice touch, but then puts the ball over the bar. Algeria is the only side even trying to play. Slovenia are truly dour.

39th minute: Agreed that a set piece will lead to the only goals of this match. And Healey and Harkes are trying to pretend like this match is the least bit enthralling.

37th minute: Our first chance> Halliche gets his head to a corner but puts the ball just wide. And Slovenia doesn’t play a man on the back post on corners. That could be interesting.

36th minute: Another Algeria free kick. Swung in nicely, but the five guys near the ball can’t get a head to it.

35th minute: Worst. Liveblog. Ever. It’s difficult to see where any scoring is going to come from,

35th minute: Anonsters, Agreed that the USMNT wants to win the next two and get through on 7 points, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a tournament, so you always want to cover your bases.

33rd minute: Someone wake me when these teams learn how to not overhit the pass.

31st minute: Even Brecko from Slovenia is frustrated by the lame play here.

29th minute: A goalless draw is better because then the USMNT has more goals scored than Slovenia or Algeria. That’s the second or third tiebreaker.

28th minute: How can you play the vuvuzelas in a match this uninspired?

28th minute: Best picture from this game, so far. Where are the construction worker and the biker?

25th minute: Wow, honestly, is it me or is this match just really not doing much?

23rd minute: Slovenia with another free kick. The service is good, but the Algerian keeper comes out, then acts like he got shot in the head.

22nd minute: Slovenia swings in a free kick from 30 out and the Algerian keeper has to punch out. First thing close to a chance, but it was never a big problem.

23rd minute: Harkes agrees with us that a goalless draw today is the best result for the USMNT.

21st minute: Another long ball skips over the end line harmlessly for Algeria. I’ve seen very little quality so far. I’d put this on par with a Stoke-Portsmouth match.

20th minute: Wow. Another poor cross followed by another poor touch lost out of bounds for Algeria. This is just weak play.

19th minute: Something tells me I’m not going to find as many pics of hotties in this match as TFA did yesterday.

17th minute: Hey, the Algerian keeper had to move to catch a cross! zzzzzzz.

17th minute: Apparently anonsters is too lazy to read all of the liveblog so far. Fine. Heh. Algeria is white, Slovenia is green.

15th minute: I admit I’m watching this match through the “can the U.S. beat these guys?” prism, and so far, the answer is a resounding yes.

13th minute: It’s the same thing for both sides: six passes around in the back, a possible run from a midfielder, then a long ball over the top that harmlessly goes begging. Recipe for me going back to bed at halftime.

11th minute: It’s a bad sign that the commentators have already gone to the off-topic stories. Doesn’t bode well. Frankly, with all the hangovers and the time and day, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being the lamest liveblog ever! Woo hoo!

9th minute: Kirm from Slovenia looks quick but misses his chance for a cross. Also, this field looks all fake. It has synthetic mixed with real grass. Very odd.

8th minute: Algeria with the possible counter working, except they just shank it out. Then Slovenia plays a nice ball forward, except right to the keeper. This is very poor so far.

7th minute: Wow, the number of empty seats really is shocking. As is the play so far.

5th minute: So far, I haven’t seen one really interesting bit of football here. Algeria seems to want to get forward the most, but is just poor at it.

4th minute: Algeria is in white. Slovenia is in green. And I know you were kidding, Spectator. Also, I agree, Ryan, that a draw is the best result for the USMNT.

2nd minute: Nothing doing so far until a free kick for Algeria 25 yards out. Put on net and just put over the bar by the keeper.

1st minute: I’m not going to pretend to know the names. I’ll be going with some “number 9 does this” in this one.

1:00: HERE WE GO! I’M TIRED AND NOBODY ELSE IS HERE! Well, except Norfolk Ned…

Pregame: I also like how they have to pick up the ball as they walk out. And at least the ref succeeded where Robert Green did not. Hey-o!