Slovenia opened their World Cup campaign with a late 1-0 success over 10-man Algeria, with a solitary strike from Robert Koren sending them top of Group C.
The game offered little in terms of entertainment before second-half substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal's moment of madness which saw him collect two quick-fire yellow cards.
Slovenia went on to make their numerical advantage count on 79 minutes when skipper Koren sent in a long-range shot that Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi misjudged and allowed to bounce into the net off his arm.
It was Slovenia's first ever World Cup victory after losing all three group matches at the 2002 tournament.
Lineups:
Algeria: Faouzi Chaouchi; Antar Yahia, Madjid Bougherra, Rafik Halliche, Nadir Belhadj; Foued Kadir (Adlène Guedioura, 82), Mehdi Lacen, Karim Ziani, Hassan Yebda; Rafik Djebbour (Abdelkader Ghezzal, 58), Karim Matmour (Rafik Saïfi, 81)
Slovenia: Samir Handanovič; Mišo Brečko, Marko Šuler, Boštjan Cesar, Bojan Jokić; Andraž Kirm, Robert Koren, Aleksander Radosavljevič (Andrej Komac, 87), Valter Birsa (Nejc Pečnik, 84), Zlatko Dedič (Zlatan Ljubijankič, 53); Milivoje Novakovič
Statistics:
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The game offered little in terms of entertainment before second-half substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal's moment of madness which saw him collect two quick-fire yellow cards.
Slovenia went on to make their numerical advantage count on 79 minutes when skipper Koren sent in a long-range shot that Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi misjudged and allowed to bounce into the net off his arm.
It was Slovenia's first ever World Cup victory after losing all three group matches at the 2002 tournament.
Lineups:
Algeria: Faouzi Chaouchi; Antar Yahia, Madjid Bougherra, Rafik Halliche, Nadir Belhadj; Foued Kadir (Adlène Guedioura, 82), Mehdi Lacen, Karim Ziani, Hassan Yebda; Rafik Djebbour (Abdelkader Ghezzal, 58), Karim Matmour (Rafik Saïfi, 81)
Slovenia: Samir Handanovič; Mišo Brečko, Marko Šuler, Boštjan Cesar, Bojan Jokić; Andraž Kirm, Robert Koren, Aleksander Radosavljevič (Andrej Komac, 87), Valter Birsa (Nejc Pečnik, 84), Zlatko Dedič (Zlatan Ljubijankič, 53); Milivoje Novakovič
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 3 | - | 3 |
| Shots off target : | 9 | - | 2 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 48 | - | 52 |
| Corner kicks : | 4 | - | 3 |
| Offsides : | 2 | - | 2 |
| Fouls : | 14 | - | 11 |
| Yellow cards : | 2 | - | 2 |
| Red cards : | 1 | - | 0 |
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