Slovenia 1 Algeria 0: Algeria goalkeeper Farouzi Chaouchi's error 11 minutes from time handed Slovenia a crucial victory in their Group C match at Polokwane. Less than 24 hours after England's Robert Green had let Clint Dempsey's shot slip from his grasp in the 1-1 draw in the group's opening game, Chaouchi produced a similar howler.
Slovenia captain and former West Brom midfielder Robert Koren’s 25-yard shot was not particularly venomous but the Algeria goalkeeper allowed it to bounce up off his shoulder and into the net.
Only moments before that the Africans had been reduced to 10 men when substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal’s needless handball resulted in a second yellow card. The win puts Slovenia top of the fledgling table and with a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages, an unlikely scenario before the tournament kicked off.
On this evidence it would seem unlikely either nation will cause Group C’s “big two” any problems but, as has so often been the case in the past, England have an unwelcome habit of stumbling over hard-working and resolute teams.
And both Algeria and Slovenia reached the World Cup with play-off victories over Egypt and Russia, countries supposedly superior to them.