The Chess Match: United States vs. Slovenia Preview

By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

Oliver, Amit, and l be covering the United States-Slovenia live, but before you join us here is everything you need to prepare you for the enticing encounter.

Time: 10 am ET

Place: the legendary Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa

The scenario: Slovenia are on top of Group C (Slovenia 3 pts, England 1 pt, USA 1 pt, Algeria 0 pts) after a fortunate 1-0 victory over Algeria, but the United States expect a win. Rather, they need a win. Slovenia also know that a win is crucial to advance because their final match of the group is against European powerhouses England.

Notable Pregame Quotes

“We are confident that Slovenia are a team that we can beat, and it’s like a final for us. But if we can’t beat Slovenia, then we don’t deserve to advance out of the group.” - United States midfielder Landon Donovan

“We are playing our style of football, and we’ll continue with that, and we can beat the U.S. with that style.” - Slovenia midfielder Andrej Komac

“Talk is cheap, he’s got to stand toe to toe and they’ve got to stand toe to toe with us for 90 minutes. And if he’s still standing, then I’ll take my hat off to him. But a lot of boxers talk too and they’re looking up at the lights. And the next thing they know, they’re trying to figure out how they got there.” - United States goalkeeper Tim Howard

“[Slovenia] are very well organised and tactically very smart. We have a great deal of respect for them. Robert Koren is the engine of their team. [Mile] Novakovic is a tall player with a creative side and [Valter] Birsa has a great left foot. They do a good job of staying very tight.” - United States manager Bob Bradley

“We might be the smallest country in this World Cup but we have not come here as tourists. We are really focused. We don’t stand in awe of the US.” - Slovenia manager Matjaz Kek