Audio By Carbonatix
Another game, another bland performance in the World Cup by Phoenix’s own Robbie Findley.
After an unimpressive opening match against England, Findley didn’t fare much better this morning against Slovenia as the teams played to a 2-2 draw.
While we give credit to Findley for making the team and earning his starting spot, he hasn’t duplicated the play-making ability he showed at the high school, college, and professional level.
Findley won’t have to worry about whether he’s starting in the team’s final game of group play on Wednesday against Algeria. After receiving his second yellow card in as many matches, Findley has been automatically suspended for that game.
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While the call was extremely questionable (as were most by referee Koman Coulibaly), Findley is out of the next match.
The phantom call, in which the referee claimed Findley had an intentional hand ball — even though the ball clearly struck him in the face — is unfortunate for the forward.
His absence might bode well for the Americans, who seemed to find a spark in the second half after trailing 2-0 at halftime.
With Findley and Jose Torres being subbed out at halftime, the U.S. offense scored early as Landon Donovan roofed a goal in the 48th minute to cut the deficit to one.
After chances for both teams, the resilient Yanks tied the game in the 82nd minute as Michael Bradley (son of head coach Bob Bradley) netted an equalizer.
That would be the final goal scored in the game if you look at the box score. But Coulibaly, making one of the worst calls in World Cup history, disallowed Maurice Edu’s goal with only minutes remaining.
Coulibaly then refused to give an explanation of why the goal was called back and was the subject of numerous shouts from the Americans as the game ended.
The tie must really feel like kissing your sister for the U.S., especially when they scored a legitimate goal that probably would have won the game (which would have been equivalent to taking the prom queen home).
Hope is not lost for the Americans despite the disappointing outcome. Depending on what happens in the final group match games, there is still a decent chance they can advance out of group play.
And if they play with the spirit and fire they showed in the second half (without Findley), this team could surprise some people with a deep run.
