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Group SummariesVideo

Group C Summary – England/USA/Algeria/Slovenia

June 23, 2010 — by Suman

Scenario Analysis:

Here’s who advances in each of the 9 possible outcomes of this morning’s 2 matches:


USA win USA draw USA loss
ENG win USA & ENG ENG & SVN ENG & SVN
ENG draw USA & SVN SVN & ? SVN & ENG
ENG loss USA & SVN SVN & USA SVN & ALG

(?: if both games end as draws, both USA & ENG will finish with 3 points.  The tiebreaker is total GF, so USA has the advantage, having scored 3 so far to ENG’s 1.  It’s possible but unlikely that ENG could advance in this scenario–if they & SVN play to a high-scoring draw, e.g. 3-3, while USA plays to a low-scoring draw, e.g. 0-0.)

Group C fixtures & results:

  • Sat June 12 (Day 2): England 1, USA 1
  • Sun June 13 (Day 3): Slovenia 1, Algeria 0
  • Fri June 18 (Day 8): USA 2, Slovenia 2
  • Fri June 18 (Day 8): England 0, Algeria 0
  • Wed June 23 (Day 13): Slovenia v England
  • Wed June 23 (Day 13): USA v Algeria

Standings:

Team MP W D L GF GA Pts
SloveniaSlovenia 2 1 1 0 3 2 4
USAUSA 2 0 2 0 3 3 2
EnglandEngland 2 0 2 0 1 1 2
AlgeriaAlgeria 2 0 1 1 0 1 1

Video highlights below.


Day 2 (June 12): England 1, USA 1

USA managed a 1-1 draw against England–after recovering from an early defensive lapse which led to an English goal by captain Steven Gerrard, USA equalized with a goal by Clint Dempsey, which you’ve no doubt already seen–the result of a very poor error by English goalkeeper Robert Green, who mishandled Dempsey’s long but not particularly challenging shot, letting it bounce off his hands and into the goal.

Day 3 (June 13): Slovenia 1, Algeria 0

Slovenia jumped to an early lead in the group by beating Algeria 1-0 on a late goal–again the result of very poor goalkeeping.

Day 8 (June 18): USA 2, Slovenia 2

The US gave up 2 goals to skillful Slovenia in the 1st half, with the US defense continuing its troublesome habit of giving up early goals due to defensive lapses. The first Slovenian goal came off a long shot by Slovenian midfielder Valter Birsa, but only have he was given time to collect the ball and set up the shot right in the center of field. The US attack started to get going late in the 2nd half, leading to a couple excellent chances–but a quick Slovenian counterattack meant the US were down 2-0 at half.

But the US staged a spectacular comeback in the 2nd half to draw, with tremendous finishes by Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley–and in fact appeared to deserve a win, after being denied a goal off a Maurice Edu volley, due a mysterious and controversial call by the much-maligned Malian mediator.

Day 8 (June 18): England 0, Algeria 0

England’s team again failed to live up to the considerable expectations placed upon it, failing even to score against a plucky Algerian side.