PRETORIA, South Africa — One more game, one last chance to make their reputation.
When the Americans playAlgeria at the World Cup today, they’ll either live up to all the hype and earn a spot among the final 16 teams or fall painfully short of their long-stated goal and losea watershed opportunity.
“We have a great chance tomorrow night to get a win and advance on to the second round,” captain Carlos Bocanegra said Tuesday. “It’s important for us because we had that disappointment in 2006. It’s not really extra motivation, but it’s just in the back of our minds.
“You work so hard and you train for so long for the World Cup, and it can beover so quickly if you don’t advance.”
A victory or possibly a tie would move the United States into the knockout rounds on a high that will set off midday celebrations back home. Replicate the loss to Ghana that knocked the U.S. team out in 2006, and it will start a new round of soul-searching that could cost Coach Bob Bradley his job, not to mention dampening the burgeoning enthusiasm for soccer in America.
Since returning to the World Cup in 1990 following a 40-year absence, theUnited States has alternated first-round elimination (1990, 1998 and 2006) with a secondround appearance at home in 1994 and a trip to the quarterfinals in South Korea in 2002.
This World Cup started with a come-from-behind 1-1 tie against England. Then the Americans trailed Slovenia by two goals at halftime only to fight back as Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley scored for a 2-2 draw. They appeared to go ahead, but Maurice Edu’s 85th-minute goal was disallowed for reasons referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali didn’t explain.
“We’re not going to worry about any calls or anything like that getting us down,”Bocanegra said. “We had a good second half, and hopefully we can continue with that momentum and put that into the Algeria game.”
The United States has never faced the Desert Foxes, who have yet to score in this tournament following a 1-0 loss to Slovenia and a 0-0 draw against England. Algeria can advance only with a victory, and Les Fennecs Coach Rabah Saadane repeatedly used the phrase “God willing” in reference to a victory.
“We are in a good mood to make our people back home very happy,” Algeria captain Antar Yahia said.
A victory would send the U.S. team to a second-round matchup this weekend withGermany, Ghana, Serbia or Australia, and another big television audience for American soccer. With France knocked out, and England, Germany, defending champion Italy and Spain all uncertain of reaching the knockout stage, the United States could find itself in a fairly wide-open tournament if it advances.
Coaches will be paying attention to the England-Slovenia game, which will be played simultaneously in Port Elizabeth. If the English lose, the U.S. team would advance with a tie. If the United States and England draw, the Americans reach the second round if they maintain their goal advantage over the English, currently 3-1.
Sports, Pages 17 on 06/23/2010