U.S. team vows not to take Slovenia lightly
Reporting from Johannesburg, South Africa — When the U.S. played England to a 1-1 tie in Rustenburg on Saturday night, the most heartbreaking moment for forward Herculez Gomez came right at the final whistle.
Gomez was standing on the sideline, waiting to come on as a substitute, but the match ended just before he had the chance to make his World Cup debut.
All of which has made him hungrier than ever to get some minutes on Friday afternoon when the U.S. plays Slovenia at Ellis Park.
“I have to constantly keep reminding myself that I belong,” Gomez told reporters earlier in the week at the U.S. base camp in Irene. “During training sessions, slowly but surely my confidence keeps growing.
“There are a lot of people excited for me, and I’m excited to be representing millions and millions of Hispanic Americans. I know I have a huge opportunity, and all I have to do is just be ready.”
The opportunity could come Friday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Coach Bob Bradley on Thursday repeated what he has said over and over again, that Slovenia is a disciplined, well-organized team that cannot be taken lightly.
The reason why is obvious. Although Slovenia’s players are not household names, they do play in some of Europe’s better leagues, including the Belgian, French, Dutch, German and Italian circuits.
“We watch other leagues around the world and we’re familiar with the guys,” U.S. captain and defender Carlos Bocanegra said Thursday night at Ellis Park. “We’re not going to go into it taking anybody lightly just because maybe the rest of the world doesn’t know their names.”
Bradley knows the names, and on Thursday night pointed out three players who deserve special defensive attention: midfielder Robert Koren, who scored in Slovenia’s 1-0 opening win over Algeria, and forwards Milivoje Novakovic and Zlatko Dedic.
The U.S. players are determined not to go into the final first-round game, against the Algerians on June 23, needing a win to advance. They want to win Friday and give themselves some leeway.
A loss, however, would all but eliminate the U.S. because England is virtually certain to defeat Algeria on Friday night. “That’s something that’s going to be in the back of our minds,” Bocanegra said.
Slovenia can clinch a place in the final 16 by winning. Midfielder Andrej Komac earlier this week predicted a victory.
“We are playing our style of football and we’ll continue with that, and we can beat the U.S. with that style,” he said. “We are going to win this match.”
If so, Slovenia Coach Matjaz Kek knows what it will mean. “It can solidify Slovenia on the global map of football,” he said Thursday.
