As the afterglow of the United States’ World Cup-opening draw with England wears off, Team USA is left with some very sobering realities. It plays a must-have game Friday against just the kind of a Central European team it never beats, and may have to do it without star goalkeeper Tim Howard.
In the World Cup — where the situation changes like a kid’s Etch A Sketch — the U.S. team has gone from Saturday’s high to a trap game vs. underrated Slovenia. And even though coach Bob Bradley reportedly feels Howard may play despite bruised ribs, the keeper’s status is unclear for a tilt that may decide if the United States advances from Group C.
Slovenia’s 1-0 win yesterday over Algeria put the United States in a position where a tie is all but necessary just to stay alive, and a loss could essentially end its dreams of advancement. Not good news considering the United States is 0-7-1 all-time in the World Cup vs. the usually physical teams from Central Europe, getting outscored 18-3.
“We’ve had different experiences in the past four years with this group against Eastern European teams. They’re typically hard-working, organized teams,” said Bradley, whose team lost 1-0 in Slovakia last Oct. 14, and fell 4-2 to the Czechs in Hartford on March 25. “I thought [Slovakia was] well-organized defensively, so there is a similarity between Slovakia and Slovenia.
“They’re organized collectively, they make it hard on you, and oftentimes they have players who may not be big names, but — if you know anything about where they play and follow them — they’re solid players with their club teams as well. No surprises, really.”
There were some pleasant surprises in Saturday’s opener, from a spry Oguchi Onyewu holding off Wayne Rooney in a footrace to the central midfield duo of Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark largely negating Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, the latter’s goal aside. Then came yesterday.
Both Bradley and England coach Fabio Capello had hoped for a draw between Slovenia and Algeria, preferably a scoreless one. They almost had their wish, until Robert Koren’s 79th-minute winner put Slovenia atop Group C.
“The second game is going to be even harder,” said Onyewu. “It’s important for us to use our momentum from [Saturday] and to push it towards the next two games. It’s going to be very difficult, even more difficult as the tournament goes on and the results get more crucial.”
With England a heavy favorite to beat Algeria, Friday becomes do-or-die for the United States A loss would leave Slovenia qualified (6 points), England in second if it beats Algeria (4) and the United States in trouble (1). The United States would then need to beat Algeria and rely on Slovenia to upset England just to get to the capriciousness of a goal-differential tiebreaker.
A draw might suffice, a win would all but ensure advancement. But that won’t be easy against a team that allowed just four goals in 10 qualifiers and is adept at grinding out ties. The United States may be favored, but that didn’t save England; it’ll have to win it on the field . . . or at least not lose it.
“We always spoke about the fact that there are three first-round games,” said right back Steve Cherundolo. “It’s not just England.”
brian.lewis@nypost.com
