The US battled from two goals down in the first half to level eight minutes from time before Maurice Edu put the ball into the net in the 85th minute of the Group C clash only to see his close-range effort disallowed.
United States coach Bob Bradley said that after watching video of the controversial disallowed 'goal' in Friday's 2-2 draw with Slovenia he had no doubt the referee had got it wrong.
The US battled from two goals down in the first half to level eight minutes from time before Maurice Edu put the ball into the net in the 85th minute of the Group C clash only to see his close-range effort disallowed.
Bradley had been moderate in his immediate reaction to the decision by referee Koman Coulibaly of Mali but, the day after, he was unequivocal in his opinion.
"I think it is a good goal. I think the only things that could be called would be a penalty kick for us," said Bradley. Television replays showed pushing and shoving in the area, mostly but not exclusively from Slovenian players, as Landon Donovan whipped in a free kick.
The level of pushing and grabbing was no higher than is seen in the area at most corners and free kicks in the modern game.
Bradley suggested the referee might have been trying to compensate for another decision.
Nothing there
"There are times when a referee, for whatever reason, blows (for) a foul and now thinks either he didn''t make the correct call for the foul or from a previous play and then literally as soon as the free kick is taken he blows his whistle," he said.
"So you can speculate all you want about which guy (fouled), I think it is a waste of time. I think there was nothing there. I think it is a good goal and that's it," he added.
However, the U.S coach said he and the team, who will make it out of the group into the second round if they beat Algeria on Wednesday, had to put the incident behind them quickly.
"The only thought I have at the moment is that the team as a whole had a strong response and (then there was) the disallowed goal.
"I end up feeling bad for the team and for our fans because a 3-2 comeback win at that moment would have given us a real chance of advancing and would have been something special for everybody.
"It didn't happen that way, we put it behind us. We understand that if we win (against Algeria) we advance and we understand the possibility that we (can) still win our group. We have moved forward," he added.
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