SLOVENIA coach Matjaz Kek admitted there was a sense of sadness among his players to have let slip a glorious chance to reach the last 16 of the World Cup against the United States.
Kek and co were 2-0 up at half-time against the US at Ellis Park and within touching distance of a first appearance in the knockout phase of the World Cup finals, but an early second-half goal from Landon Donovan and one with eight minutes to go from Michael Bradley levelled the game.
Indeed, the Americans felt hard done by not to have won, with Maurice Edu's goal ruled out late on for a mystery foul.
Slovenia must regroup after a thrilling and draining contest to take on England, who will need to win the game in Port Elizabeth to be sure of reaching the last 16 after a goalless draw with Algeria last night.
Kek said: "I am really proud of my squad but yes, there is some aftertaste of expectations not having been met.
"We were ahead of the US and we didn't overcome this pressure. There is pride and enthusiasm and maybe just a bit of disillusionment. This is a match we will learn from.
"We are not considering our match against England at this point, my priority is to have my squad recovered, they have expended a lot of energy. We need to recover and then we will talk about England. It's very clear what we will be up against."
US coach Bob Bradley had his theory as to why Malian official Koman Coulibaly had ruled out the third American goal, but was given no actual explanation by the man who made the decision.
"On the set-piece most of what took place was Slovenia players holding our players," he said.
"A Slovenia player had his arms round Michael (Bradley, the coach's son), Michael tried to break clear and the foul was called. There might have been three fouls in the box, all of which were by Slovenia players."
The European side took a 13th-minute lead through Valter Birsa and added a second before the break as Milivoje Novakovic played in strike partner Zlatan Ljubijankic, who finished calmly.
However, just as they had against England, the Americans found a way back into the match and Bradley praised the spirit of his side.
"This team has shown that it keeps fighting to the end, we have now had experience of pushing games when we're behind, and that's a credit to the mentality of the players," he said.
"There was one moment where it seemed one point gained, then it seemed like two lost. We knew going into the game we would give ourselves a good chance to go through with a win. But it was still a situation where we couldn't lose. A tie keeps us alive."
Indeed, the Americans felt hard done by not to have won, with Maurice Edu's goal ruled out late on for a mystery foul.
Slovenia must regroup after a thrilling and draining contest to take on England, who will need to win the game in Port Elizabeth to be sure of reaching the last 16 after a goalless draw with Algeria last night.
Kek said: "I am really proud of my squad but yes, there is some aftertaste of expectations not having been met.
"We were ahead of the US and we didn't overcome this pressure. There is pride and enthusiasm and maybe just a bit of disillusionment. This is a match we will learn from.
"We are not considering our match against England at this point, my priority is to have my squad recovered, they have expended a lot of energy. We need to recover and then we will talk about England. It's very clear what we will be up against."
US coach Bob Bradley had his theory as to why Malian official Koman Coulibaly had ruled out the third American goal, but was given no actual explanation by the man who made the decision.
"On the set-piece most of what took place was Slovenia players holding our players," he said.
"A Slovenia player had his arms round Michael (Bradley, the coach's son), Michael tried to break clear and the foul was called. There might have been three fouls in the box, all of which were by Slovenia players."
The European side took a 13th-minute lead through Valter Birsa and added a second before the break as Milivoje Novakovic played in strike partner Zlatan Ljubijankic, who finished calmly.
However, just as they had against England, the Americans found a way back into the match and Bradley praised the spirit of his side.
"This team has shown that it keeps fighting to the end, we have now had experience of pushing games when we're behind, and that's a credit to the mentality of the players," he said.
"There was one moment where it seemed one point gained, then it seemed like two lost. We knew going into the game we would give ourselves a good chance to go through with a win. But it was still a situation where we couldn't lose. A tie keeps us alive."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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