Lost in sight of the controversial World Cup match between the United States and Slovenia was the tremendous comeback by the American side from 2-0 down. This demonstrated an abundant and uniquely American spirit and fight and earned a 2-2 draw.

Referee Koman Coulibaly may have snatched victory away from the Americans with an unexplainable call—which disallowed the winning goal from American Maurice Edu—that should earn much scrutiny and galvanize change, but that should not take away from what was arguably the most thrilling match of the World Cup so far and the facts we should learn about the U.S. team from the other 95 minutes of the match.
 

The United States, in characteristic fashion, looked sluggish from kick-off.  Coach Bob Bradley inserted Jose Francisco Torres into the starting XI over Ricardo Clark hoping to use the young midfielder’s passing ability to control a match where the Americans would seemingly control more possession, although Torres was ineffective in his strengths and exposed his defensive weaknesses. The Slovenians, however, gave the Americans an emphatic punch in the face by controlling possession and the tempo of the match early on. The Americans, reeling from sloppy passes and lethargic play, were on the defensive for a good part of the first half-hour of the match and paid mightily for it.
 

Valter Birsa was given far too much space to strike from about 25 yards out in the 13^th minute. Although the left-footed strike from the Auxerre winger was quality, Birsa was lightly marked—if marked at all— and should not have been given so much space to speculate a shot. Birsa and Robert Koren were probably the two players spotlighted by manager Bradley as playmakers, yet the Americans were too slow and undisciplined to prevent a goal.  Onyewu should have been more assertive closing down Birsa, while Landon Donovan could have done more to mark Birsa as Michael Bradley stepped forward to close down Radosavljevic, the player that passed the ball to Birsa.
 

If the Americans want to advance past the group stage to the round of 16, it will take 90 minutes of complete team effort on both sides of the ball.  Donovan may have shifted to the left wing to exploit a matchup against Kirm—pointless because Birsa was moved to the right wing to counter the American adjustment—and maximize his playmaking ability, but he cannot shirk his defensive obligations and watch the ball move to a man close to him without a fight.
 

The Americans seemed to snap out of their introductory funk after Birsa’s goal, showing more spirit and usefulness with the ball. They looked very useful on set pieces and were denied goals on multiple occasions with last-ditch saves on the end line. Jose Francisco Torres’ whipped free kick from the outer-edge of the penalty box that the Slovenian goalie Handanovic firmly grasped was particularly dangerous. Torres was ineffective in 45 minutes of play before being substituted at half time, although he could prove useful in the future campaign as a Beckham-like substitute—he has proven quality on the ball, could prove useful against a tired opposition, and is dangerous as a set piece taker.
 

The U.S. had a major lapse in concentration in the 41st minute after Donovan nearly scored, allowing the Slovenians to gallop across the pitch on the counter. The final ball went to Ljubijankic, who split the center backs—Oneywu in particular—to strike one past goalie Tim Howard. The entire back four froze on the Slovenian counter, although Onyewu should have done much either closing down the passer Novakovic (which also would have created an offside situation since Onyewu would have most likely been in front of Ljubijankic) or marking the scorer he played onside. Critics deservedly should question Onyewu’s future selection for the national team, since he has played a role in every goal scored against the Americans. Despite Onyewu’s big performance against England, manager Bradley must select fit players that can avoid habitual lapses in concentration.
 

As much as the Malian referee snatched a victory from the American side, so did the team itself by conceding two preventable goals. The United States cannot afford to be the Kardiac Kids and battle back from initial letdowns.
 

Bob Bradley made two substitutions—Benny Feilhaber and Maurice Edu for the disappointing Torres and Findlay—that proved to be a master stroke. The American pace started to pick up and confidence started to pick up with every minute passed.

It would be a Slovenian mistake that would lead to the American’s goal, however. Bostjan Cesar fell down while collecting an aerial backpass, which Donovan alertly collected and dribbled in towards the penalty area. From a tight angle on the right post, Donovan fired the ball in the direction of Handanovic’s head and scored the first American goal.  

With a renewed sense of optimism and a uniquely American spirit, the Americans took hold of the match and searched for an equalizer.
 

The Americans found an equalizer about a half-hour later. Bob Bradley had just introduced striker Hercules Gomez as his final substitute, and it paid immediate dividends. After some build-up play, Jozy Altidore played a ball off his head to open space in the box. Michael Bradley streaked into the open space—which was created because the closest center back was preoccupied marking Gomez—and pounced the ball into the net with a brilliant sliding effort.
 

Edu’s goal off Donovan’s set piece was controversially disallowed minutes later, although I don’t want to inundate you with the same commentary you’re hearing elsewhere. Referee Coulibaly simply messed up the call and there was no legitimate foul committed by an American in that sequence.
 

Coulibaly’s incompetence—hopefully it is nothing more—did not single-handedly cost the Americans two points, however. Even though the call cost the Americans a winning goal and two points, it doesn’t excuse the American’s initial letdown and shoddy defending. If the American squad wants to actually make noise in the tournament, they will need to improve on the poor play that cost them two goals against and not speculated on the different seeding they may have earned from a victory.
 

Bob Bradley must pair his son Michael with holding midfielders Edu or Ricardo Clark to fully tap into his son’s box-to-box ability. The entire side must be sharper from the get-go and show their passion and enthusiasm in every marking assignment and challenge. Dempsey must show up and produce the Juventus-like magic we know he can produce. Donovan must make his presence known for the entire 90 minutes, rather than the useful and important 45 minutes he did show up in against Slovenia.

 

Altidore must be a complete forward by not only using his bodily strengths and immense physicality to score goals, but also create goal-scoring opportunities in a [Emile] Heskian fashion. If one positive thing could be extracted from referee Coulibaly’s performance, it is that he let most of the physicality during the match slide—Altidore must learn from that and play accordingly.
 

And most importantly, the Americans must play up and maximize this unique American spirit thing we have going. I’ve seen plenty of matches and seen spirited sides, but there’s something different about the spirit this American squad possesses. The American shirt represented something special, and the squad must tap into this magic as best as they can.

No matter what pundits will tell you, Slovenia is a very good side with talented players sprinkled around and we should be pleased with a draw considering the American play in the first half. Combined with the draw between England and Algeria, the Americans still control their own destiny towards advancement to the knockout stages.
 

The United States must now simply defeat Algeria to advance to the round of 16, which is no given. The Algerian squad possesses talents in Karim Ziani and Nadir Belhadj, but is inferior to the more organized and talented American squad.
 

As Donovan previously stated, “if we can’t beat [Slovenia or Algeria], then we don’t deserve to advance.”
 

For the sake of American soccer, I hope the Americans handily beat Algeria and establish the national team as a dark-horse for this tournament and perennial power in the future. As we learned in the USA-Slovenia match, each minute can influence the match for better or worse. One game, boiled down to the one goal-scoring minute, can change everything.