Landon Donovan and coach Bob Bradley were both left without an answer as to why what would have been a winning goal in their World Cup Group C match against Slovenia was disallowed.

The Americans had fought back from 2-0 down at half-time to 2-2 when Donovan put a free-kick into the box and amid a tangle of bodies Maurice Edu applied the finish which looked to have completed an incredible turnaround.

But Malian referee Koman Coulibaly ruled it out and did not give any reason to the mystified Americans as they surrounded him at the time and again at the final whistle, with the match ending 2-2 to leave the group wide open.

Los Angeles Galaxy star Donovan said: "I'm assuming it was a foul somewhere, it couldn't have been offside. We asked many times who the foul was by but he wouldn't or couldn't explain it. I don't know what to think of the call, I didn't see a foul.

"To be honest I'm not sure how much English he speaks but when we asked in a non-confrontational manner why he had given the foul, he just ignored us."

Bradley was not given a satisfactory explanation either and felt if any infringement had been committed, it was by the defending Slovenians.

"In the midst of a game and everything that's going on it's rare that when a tough call is made that the referee will give you an answer.

"Sometimes, after the fact, you get an answer, and sometimes that's not the case either. Sometimes you are frustrated because you feel that situations have not been handled 100 per cent correctly or fairly, but that's the way the game works and you move on."