Right. So this happened:
(Video courtesy of @WillBrinson)
It should have been a goal. It wasn’t. The list of people saying the Americans got jobbed stretches from Grant Wahl to Brian Phillips to Spencer Hall to Ricky Martin. Yes, that Ricky Martin. When Ricky Martin says you’re a bad ref, you are a bad ref.
Nevertheless, it happened, it is done, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Perhaps we should just be thankful that A.) the USA managed to get to that position after being down two goals to a country whose total population is small than the population of Philadelphia, and B.) England laid a big fat emu egg today with that scoreless draw against Algeria.
So with that in mind, let’s try to put this behind us and figure out what the USA has to do to move on to the Knockout Stage — and in all honesty, it’s not nearly as bad as where this team was a year ago at this point in the Confederations Cup.
Here’s how the Group C table looks right now with one game left:
|
TEAM
|
PTS
|
GD
|
GS
|
|
Slovenia
|
4
|
+1
|
3
|
|
USA
|
2
|
0
|
3
|
|
England
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
|
Algeria
|
1
|
-1
|
0
|
Amazingly, the USA now has the goals scored tiebreaker over England going into the 3rd and final round on Wednesday, England plays Slovenia, and the USA plays Algeria. That tiebreaker is important, because now the USA merely has to beat Algeria to clinch a spot in the Knockout Stage. Here’s how it breaks down:
USA beats Algeria and:
- Slovenia wins — Slovenia 1st, USA 2nd.
- England wins — USA and England advance.
- Slovenia & England draw — USA 1st, Slovenia 2nd.
USA draws Algeria and:
- Slovenia wins — Slovenia 1st, USA 2nd.
- England wins — England 1st, Slovenia 2nd.
- Slovenia & England draw — Slovenia 1st, 2nd determined by goals scored tiebreaker.
Algeria beats USA and:
- …well, that would be that for the USA, really.
As the old December NFL trope goes, the playoffs start now. The USA’s 2nd half comeback has put them in a position to advance with a win. That’s what it all comes down to now for the Americans — win and advance. Even though a draw against Algeria gives them about a 50-60% chance of advancing, this USA team would do well not to leave this one to a coin flip. Bob Bradley needs to get this one right from the first minute on Wednesday.
