USA draw Slovenia 2-2, still hope to advance from Group C

The USA earned a controversial 2-2 draw with Group C adversary Slovenia at Ellis Park in Johannesburg today. Hours after the U.S. result, England reached a listless nil-nil draw with Algeria, raising the stakes on the third and final round of group play. Next Wednesday, June 23, the USA face Algeria and England face Slovenia to determine which two teams will advance into the next knockout phase of the tournament.

Slovenia got a two-goal lead in the first half with Valter Birsa scoring first in the 13th minute and Zlatan Ljubijankic assisted by Milivoge Novakovic talling again just before the half. In the 48th minute, Landon Donovan assisted by Steve Cherundolo brought the U.S. back into the game by taking the ball to the near post and chipping it into the upper netting. As the match grew heated, Slovenia was issued three cautions, but Michael Bradley scored the equalizer, assisted by Jozy Altidore, when he half-volleyed the ball past keeper Samir Handanovic. In the 85th minute, referee Koman Coulibaly called a controversial no-goal after Maurice Edu blasted the ball into the net off a Donovan free kick. Edu was onside and there were no perceivable fouls against the U.S. in replay.
Referee Koman Coulibaly Could Face Expulsion From World Cup
In the wake of one of the bigger officiating controversies ever to involve U.S. Soccer, we could see a quick move made by FIFA.

While the call by referee Koman Coulibaly that took a potential game-winning goal from the United States Friday can't be overturned, he could be facing a punishment from the sport's governing body.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting, citing a FIFA source, that Coulibaly is facing an expedited review from FIFA, and it's "likely" he will be excluded from the remainder of the FIFA World Cup. (ESPN is also reporting that Coulibaly could face a FIFA probe.)

Since the outcome of the 2-2 draw between the U.S. and Slovenia isn't changing, this is probably the closest we'll ever come to FIFA admitting the major error made by Coulibaly.