USA vs. Slovenia 2010 World Cup: Robbed of Win, Fights To a Draw at Ellis Park

The referees—we complain about them often, and with good reason, as proved by the woeful job done by Koman Coulibaly in today's match.

U.S. entered the match as the favorite but found themselves down 2-0 going into halftime after goals by Valter Birsa at 13' and Zlatan Ljubijankic at 42'.

Besides the horrible hand ball called on the U.S. inside the Slovenian box, the referees were pretty decent.

The U.S. squad looked disinterested and, frankly, as if they would rather be elsewhere.

The second half was a different story.

Elder statesman of U.S. soccer Landon Donovan scored at 48' from right of goal, flipping the infamous Jabulani above the goalkeeper's head for USA's first goal.

After 35 minutes of back and forth soccer, U.S. coach Bob Bradley's son Michael broke free and scored at 82'. Just like that, the U.S. was back in it.

Then the controversy began. On a free kick from Donovan, the U.S. scored off the foot of Maurice Edu. But a whistle from the referee overturned the goal, and still nobody knows why.

Replay shows nobody offside, and both Jozy Altidore and Bradley had Slovenian players hanging all over them.

The U.S. showed flashes of brilliance at times, but questions still remain regarding their ability to keep a clean slate for an entire match.

The U.S. is now second in the group with two points. Their next match will be next Wednesday against Algeria.

Should U.S. win that match, they are very likely to advance into the second round.

But only if they can pull their heads out of the sand in the first half of their next match.