The USA has lost at least one first-round game in each of its previous five previous World Cup appearance. The Americans, who tied their first two games in South Africa, must go undefeated its three group games to advance to the second round.

Landon Donovan has played in two previous World Cups: the quarterfinal finish in 2002 and the disappointing first-round elimination in 2006. "The two World Cups I'd been a part of, we hadn't strung together three consecutive good results and good performances," he said. "I think this team has the experience and the ability to do that, and we'll find out on Wednesday night."

The USA will advance by beating Algeria. The Americans could advance with a tie if England ties Slovenia and the USA is not outscored by England by more than one goal. Algeria must beat the USA to keep its hopes alive.

“Their approach to the game would likely be an aggressive approach to try to get a goal and win the game,” Donovan said. “A lot of our guys play with or have played with or against their players. As a team, collectively, they can be unpredictable and on their day they are a very, very good team."