Slovenia 1 Algeria 0
POLOKWANE, South Africa — Hey England and America, look who’s on top of your World Cup group. Little Slovenia!
Robert Koren scored a late goal Sunday to give Slovenia a 1-0 win over 10-man Algeria in the teams’ tournament opener, putting the World Cup’s smallest nation — population two million, or about the size of Houston, Texas — ahead of the United States and England in Group C.
The Slovenian captain struck a long-range shot that Algeria goalkeeper Fawzi Chaouchi misjudged and allowed to bounce into the net off his arm in the 79th minute.
“I was just lucky to see it go in like that,” Koren said.
Algerian coach Rabah Saadane said the new World Cup ball was a challenge for goalkeepers.
“Everyone saw what happened with the ball, and what happened yesterday with England’s goalkeeper,” Saadane said. “You have to adjust to the flight of the ball.”
Algeria substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal was ejected seven minutes earlier, picking up a second yellow card for handling the ball inside the Slovenian penalty area.
It was the first World Cup victory for Slovenia. The Balkan country lost all three of its group matches in the 2002 tournament.
“It was a mental victory,” said Slovenian coach Matjaz Kek. “We wanted to win so much, so it’s great for our confidence to get that win.”
Both sides knew they were heading into a match in which a loss would be costly, with England and the United States — both higher ranked — left on the schedule.
The Group C favourites tied 1-1 Saturday after a blunder by England goalkeeper Robert Green allowed Clint Dempsey’s shot to trickle into the net.
Algeria twice came close to scoring in the first half, when Nadir Belhadj’s 25-yard free kick forced Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to stretch and push the ball over the crossbar, and when defender Rafik Halliche headed the ball just wide.
Algeria coach Rabah Saadane said Chaouchi apologized to the team for failing to track Koren’s shot. But the coach refused to criticize the goalkeeper.
“We must recover and prepare for an even more difficult match against England, which is the best of the group,” Saadane said. “It’s going to be very difficult now. We had a great opportunity today and we missed it.”