In the first match, the ref took out his yellow card as if they were meal tickets, including GER's Miraslov Klose getting two cards for a benign and harmless tackle in the first half. His two were part of 6 given out by the ref in the first half with Serbia immediately taking advantage for a 1-0 lead. Germany still had their chances and missed a PK after SRB once again committed an extremely dumb handball, with Nemanja Vidic reaching out as if it was a football passed to him. That's SRB's second such incident... are these really FOOTBALL players, not FUTBOL players?
The USA once again allowed an early goal and another defensive lapse put them down 2-0. But a great goal by Landon to start the second half (well, if he didn't roof it, he would've taken out the head of the SLV GK) and great half-volley by Bradley tied the score. Unfortunately, the ref interjected himself with questionable calls all game (including one favoring the US, when Dempsey was spared a card in the first minute) with the biggest one being the phantom foul called on the US's 3rd goal. Unlike in baseball when
umpire Jim Joyce immediately acknowledged his mistake, FIFA doesn't allow its referees to comment. Upon looking at it, nearly every USA player was grabbed in the box. But the USA still showed a lot o heart, but next time, let's score first for once. The ref did do the USA a favor, though, giving Findley a phantom yellow card which means he'll miss the next game. Thank you! This tie was the first tie in 9 matches (CIV-POR).
The USA chances got even better with England's lackluster effort in a scoreless draw with Algeria. Now, with if USA wins, they're in. Even a tie is a possibility. Here are the Group C scenarios:
Group C
P W L D F A GD Pts
SVN 2 1-0-1 3 2 1 4
USA 2 0-0-2 3 3 0 2
ENG 2 0-0-2 1 1 0 2
ALG 2 0-1-1 0 1 -1 1
***Group C Scenarios
~REMAIN: SVN-ENG, USA-ALG
~NOTE: ENG=USA, ENG=ALG, SVN=USA
y-SVN W or (GD/GF/DL) T&USA W
y-(GD/GF/DL) USA W&SVN T/L
y-ENG W&USA L/T or (GD/GF/DL) ENG W&USA W
x-SVN W/T or L&USA T/L
x-USA W or (GF/DL) T&ENG T
x-ENG W or (GF/DL) T&USA T
x-ALG W&ENG T/L or (GD/GF/HH) W&ENG W
Legend
------
x – Advance to R16
y – Win Group
z - Eliminated
W – Win (by any margin)
L – Loss (by any margin)
T - Tie
W# - Win by # goals
L# - Lose by # goals
#+ (by # goals or more)
#- (by # goals or less)
REMAIN – Matches left of interest
NOTE – Match results of interest
Order of tiebreakers:
>GD – goal differential
>GF – goals for
>HH – head-to-head (pts, gd, gf)
>DL - draw lots
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