Though neither team impressed, Slovenia emerged with a 1-0 victory to take an early lead in the Group C standings.
Despite being outshot 10-7, Slovenia was able to put one more shot on goal than Algeria (3-2) and had the benefit of playing a man up on Algeria for the final 17 minutes after Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off with his second yellow card. The midfielder was given the red card only 14 minutes after entering the match. Slovenia managed it’s the lone goal in the 79th minute, six minutes after Ghezzal was given the boot.
Player of the Game
Robert Koren, Slovenia
In a defensive-minded and card-riddled game, Koren was the only player able to break the scoreless tie, which gives Slovenia an extremely influential three points after the first game. He also accounted for three of Slovenia's seven shots.
Scoring Breakdown
Following the timeless adage "the only way to score is to put the ball on net," Robert Koren took an uncontested but harmless shot from the edge of the box. The ball took a slippery bounce as it neared the goal, and Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi took a terrible angle on the shot. The ball nicked his shoulder and rolled into the bottom corner of the net in the 79th minute to give Slovenia a 1-0 lead.
Notes
Abdelkader Ghezzal's yellow card in the 59th minute was the third fastest yellow for a sub in World Cup history. The fastest was Du-Ri Cha for South Korea vs. Poland on June 4, 2002 — 28 seconds. Slovenia's only previous World Cup appearance in 2002 saw them lose all three games. Ghezzal also earned a second yellow card in the 73rd minute, sending him off for the remainder of the match and relegating him to the bench for Algeria's next one. Algeria midfielder Hassan Yebda also received a yellow card, while Aleksander Radosavljevic and Andrej Komac were booked for Slovenia.
Next
Slovenia will take on the United States on Thursday, June 18 at 10 a.m. (ET) at Ellis Park. Algeria will try to rebound against England, also on June 18, at 2:30 p.m. at Cape Town Stadium.
