Reduced to 10 men, the Algerian defence was working overtime when Koren made a curling effort from top of the box even though custodian Fawzi Chaouchi seemed well in position.
Captain Robert Koren's curling right-footer fashioned Slovenia's 1-0 win over a 10-man Algeria in a Group C match of the Fifa World Cup at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane today.
In presence of the iconic Zinedine Zidane -- whose parents hail from Algeria -- the Algerians, at times, seemed to have a faint edge over Slovenia before misfortune struck the Desert Foxes twice in eight minutes towards the end.
First their substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal, having spent just 14 minutes on the pitch, picked up his second yellow card of the match for his deliberate handling of the ball inside the Slovenian box with 18 minutes to hooter.
Reduced to 10 men, the Algerian defence was working overtime when Koren made a curling effort from top of the box even though custodian Fawzi Chaouchi seemed well in position.
Chaouchi, however, made a fatal error in judging the bounce and allowed the ball to brush off his arm en route to the goal.
Koren's goal not only earned Slovenia their first ever victory in World Cup but also put them right on top of Group C which also includes England and USA, who played out a 1-1 draw yesterday.
Desperate for the equaliser with time running out fast, Algeria mounted waves of attack but could not unlock Slovenia's defence which withstood the pressure to ensure a historic win.
This is Slovenia's only second appearance in World Cup, having lost all three matches in 2002.
Slovenia now take on United States on June 18 in Johannesburg, while Algeria move to Cape Town to meet England the next day.
In a by and large evenly contested first half, Algeria twice had the opportunity to open their account but both went abegging.
They in fact could have taken the lead inside three minutes but an airborne Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovic palmed Nadir Belhadj's 25m freekick over the crossbar, much to his teammates' relief.
Algeria came close to scoring again in the 36th minute but central defender Rafik Halliche's head missed the mark by a whisker.
Couple of chances came Slovenia's way as well but they too failed to make them count.
Midfielder Valter Birsa's piledriver from top of the box seemed heading for the net when Fawzi Chaouchi stretched himself to tip it over the bar.
Chaouchi, however, was not destined to finish on the winning side and the goal he conceded after the match is sure to haunt him for a while.
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