U.S. vs. Italy
Sixteen years ago these two sides met in the '90 Italia tournament. Now we have a chance to see how much U.S. footie has improved in the interim. The Italians scraped a narrow 1-0 victory back then. I'd take a repeat result. The earlier win for Ghana means that Bruce Arena's boys can't be eliminated today even if Luca Toni puts 18 by Kasey Keller. But it would be nice if the U.S. lads showed up today in front of a weekend afternoon ABC tv network audience. This one isn't for a place in the next round; it's one for the future of soccer in the U.S.A.
I haven't heard much from you "Soccer Dads" today; let's be having you during this match, eh?
posted by gatorbob @ 2:13 PM
98 Comments:
Here are the teams for today's match:
USA
18. Kasey Keller
6. Steve Cherundolo
22. Oguchi Onyewu
23. Eddie Pope
3. Carlos Bocanegra
8. Clint Dempsey
4. Pablo Mastroeni
10. Claudio Reyna
15. Bobby Convey
20. Brian McBride
21. Landon Donovan
ITALY
1. Gianluigi Buffon
2. Cristian Zaccardo
13. Alessandro Nesta
5. Fabio Cannavaro
19. Gianluca Zambrotta
20. Simone Perrotta
21. Andrea Pirlo
4. Daniele De Rossi
10. Francesco Totti
9. Luca Toni
11. Alberto Gilardino
Looks like the only change for the U.S. is my boy Dempsey in for Beasley, who Arena called out for his poor performance against the Czechs.
Also Bocanegra in for my boy Eddie Lewis. Bruce clearly thinks that Eddie was at fault for the first Czech goal.
Yellow card for the Golden Boy Totti - nice one, referee!
This is already much much better than the other day. There's a crispness to the tackles and the pace is much better than against the Czechs. Gooch has to be careful though. He could easily have already been booked.
Convey did a nice job drawing that free kick....
But then drives it into the wall. Shame.
OOOOHHHHH, brilliant work from Demps but Donovan and then Convey spurn the chances. They won't get many of those.
The U.S. seems to have an advantage in midfield with Totti pushing up as a third forward and only three in midfield against five from the U.S.
OOOHHHHH, nearly from Demps. Nice turn and shot! This is actually really good!
Oh dear, for a moment there I thought the ref was going to red card Pope. Wasn't he the last man back?
GOAL: 1-0 Italy; And after all that good work, some loose marking at a free kick allows Gilardino to sneak in with a free header. Completely unmarked. Damn!
Unusual celebration from Gilardino. I don't know whether that was "The Violinist," "The Conductor" or "The Seamstress." Haven't seen that one before.
GOAL: 1-1; Unbelievable own goal from Zacchardo to get us back in there. Grazie, signor. A complete whiff on that one. I love it!
And now de Rossi has been red carded! It's all happening! Game on!
McBride's coming off lokking like a war veteran.
Holy shit! We've got a chance in this one. I don't believe it!
Good old Brian McBride - what a hero - he's coming back on.
Phew, that was too close, but Toni scuffed his shot.
OOOHHHH, free header for Boca but it's over the top.
I am here fellas. I just got home, sat down and the US score and then the red card.
Wow, Totti is coming off and Gattuso is coming on. I'm sure that they can see that there is a mismatch with 3 vs. 5 in midfield. Totti becomes surplus - that's good news for us.
JUST GOT HOME!? I can't believe it. I'm here on my own and this is a cracking match.
Anyway, welcome, mate.
Did you see any of it? There's been two goals, one of them a hilarious own goal, plus a red card. It's all happening!
At least i am here, where is everyone else.
The Beeb said that the wops were on the back foot before they scored. Have we been playing well?
I saw the US goal and the red card. I did go back and see the other goal
I have no idea. We are playing well. We were dominating up until the Italian goal and then responded well. Bit lucky on the own goal. The red card was well justified - a really vicious elbow thrown by de Rossi that cut McBride's head right open.
Ah, the wonders of TIVO! Wasn't the own goal brilliant - a complete whiff.
I agree with the red card as well..
Bob Dahlgrenish defendiing
OOOOHHHHH, great shot
OOOOHHHH, nearly from Pablo. What a corker that would've been!
I was never sent off!
And I never scored an own goal that I can remember. Can you?
Don't you think they're playing good stuff? I can't believe it!~
I can't remember OG.
Bloody hell, a RED
I agree with the commentator, it is a make up call.
Was a yellow, was pretty bad though
Oh no, Mastroenni is off now! I can't believe it - that's very harsh. Pablo got a yellow earlier, but I think that was a straight red. It was a bit nasty, with studs up, but I still think maybe a second yellow. What do you reckon?
I'm pretty sure that Pablo was already on a yellow, but that looked like a straight red. I didn't see the yellow come out.
I didn't see the yellow come out
Gooch better watch himself. The ref's definitely card happy tonight.
Half-time: I've barely caught my breath. Here's the conundrum. Do we keep pushing for a win or settle. I reckon with 10 vs. 10 the Italians would settle for a draw. I'd maybe like to see them come out and go for the win in the first fifteen minutes or so and then settle. What do you reckon?
Are you done with school yet, mate?
I don't know what we should do.
If we hold on then we have to trust the wops.
I have finals this week. I don't have anything on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I have to proctor until 10:15.
I AM ALSMOST DONE
How are the bangers, Trev? I agree, we may never have a good a chance to beat the Italians as with this one. They're clearly rattled. But if it's still 1-1 at the 75th minute, we should bottle it up and head for the third match with Ghana.
Dunno about Eddie Johnson, though. He's been terrible recently. I think I'd favor Ching, although I'd love to have Taylor Twellman available at this moment, especially to combine with Demps.
Come on you Sammers!
I think we are going to struggle this half
Pope is off.
THIS REFEREE IS PATHETIC
Shame. Pope's now gotten a second yellow and he's off. The ref's completely lost his mind. He should have given him a bollocking but not a second card. He's ruined it.
Where's this ref from?
I have to agree with 'Cello for once. This ref should be sent home immediately.
Now another Italian is down - Cannavaro. I din't see anything in the challenge. But the stretchers on and he's being strapped in. Maybe he landed wrong.
Enjoy the match, AZ. It's a cracker!
convey off? Why
Central defender Jimmy Conrad is coming in for Convey. It's a shame Bruce had to make that move because of the idiocy of the ref.
Oh, nearly another own goal - this time for the Italians courtesy of a wobbly backheader from Boca.
The Italians definitely have their tails up since Pope went off. We got lucky on that offside call.
I reckon that Arena is now settling for the draw by bringing in another central defender. Do you really want to play three at the back against the Italians?
Now Del Piero is coming on for the defender Zaccardo who scored the own goal. They're definitely going for the win - damn!
what do you think Arena will say at the new conference about this ref
The comment on 365 was: "You can tell from Arena's expression that he won't be buying the ref dinner tonight!" Yeah, I think he'll have some sharp words.
Ah, too bad. Claudio totally scuffed that one.
Reyna CAN'T SHOOT
I reckon you take Landon off and put Eddie Johnson on at this point. Landy's done nothing, despite a decent performance from us today.
See what I mean? Useless ball from Landycakes. Get him off!
Was that a penalty for you?
Iaquinta on for Toni, who's done nothing today.
well, let's hope the ities get an injury and they would have to play with nine as well. They have used up their subs
boy the linesman is just as bad as the ref.
That was not offside.
What about this sub
Beasley on for Dempsey - I don't like that. Beasley doesn't have the strength to stand up to the likes of Zambrotta.
McBride should have burried it. Great run from Lanycakes
Nearly from McBride. He swung wildly at that one - shame.
Thirty minutes left - what do you think? I say settle for the unexpected draw.
NOOOOO,
OFF SDE
good call from the ref, mcbride was off
Shame - I have to agree with the ref for once. McBride did seem to be impeding; I think he may even have flicked the shot by Beasley.
I thought he got a touch as well
Oh, that was nearly curtains from Zambrotta. I reckon the next goal wins.
I am going to get you on Mastermind... Robert Dahlgren's specialized subject... THE BLEEDIN OBVIOUS
Yellow card for Zambrotta for a shove on Cherundolo.
should have done better with the header
Nice save from Kasey from Del Piero.
Why oh why oh why do these commentators get excited when they shoudn't and then act as if nothing is happening when the italian shot is saved well by CK
I know; they are hopeless.
did you hear o'brien try to explain the outcomes for the next match. He started to explain and then lost it
the us have been dangerous even with a man down
Yeah, amazing. Dave O'B is a chump. Great save from Kasey and he sounds as if he's reading his mail.
I agree; we've looked really good today. Credit when credit is due.
good to see the shot of times square. Of course, in every other country there are thousands... there was about 100. They were all probably Italian
if we lose the press won't mention the great display.
I thought the same thing; probably all tourists.
This is nailbiting stuff.
come on HOLD ON
from the beeb
82 mins: Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay still has 10 minutes or so to make history. Never before have four men been sent off in a World Cup finals match
Careful Jimmy, no pushing in the box.
a draw would be good. Let me find out from Mr. O'Brien what it means.
don't even sneeze in the box with this ref
Yessss, at least a point
I have to leave... were blocked again Bob,
Bye
Full-time: 1-1 Wow! Well, that was a marvelous spectacle for a big network audience. Exactly as I'd hoped, maybe even better. They came out and showed that they could stay with the best and even threaten to beat them. If the ref had been reasonable sane, who knows what would have happened with a full 11 vs. 11. So many talking points I can barely remember them all. I'll let the rest of you chip in.
Agree with most of Sir Trev's points. That was definitely a performance to be proud of and it came just at the right moment. If we'd gotten tonked today, it would've set the game back in this country about ten years.
I agree that McBride should have come out, but I'm not sure that Eddie Johnson has looked anything like the player he was since his injury. He seems to amble about looking dazed. I'd have put Ching in for McBride at about the 70th minute.
Agree on the Pope red card. He should've gotten a ticking off from the ref and that's it. Worth a yellow but not a second yellow. The Mastroenni red card I would have no arguments with if it had been a second yellow but I'm not sure that he was yellow carded for his earlier challenge on Totti that led to the Italian goal.
I reckon that Ghana will beat the U.S. and that the Italians beat the Czechs, who seem out of gas. That'll put Italy through top and Ghana second. Ghana vs. Brazil will be a tasty second round affair.
Absolutely, AZ. Absolutely. My suspicion, however, is that we got everything up for this big match against one of the best sides in the world on a Saturday night. The Italians were clearly taking the match for granted. And I'm not sure that we'll be able to get up again against Ghana. I hope they prove me wrong again. Certainly the laughable Ghanaian defense will give them plenty of scoring opportunities, but without Pope and Pablo, we may be leaky too.
I thought Arena's changes worked brilliantly today. Dempsy was our best player and Boca did keep it fairly tight on the left side.
hi, i was off the blog yesterday because i was setting up the new computer here and had to disconnect the laptop that i was on.
agree with most of the points here. Pablo's straight red was more of a yellow to me and Eddie's first yellow should have been a ticking off and his second yellow his first.
but don't you think onyewu was the one walking the thin line yesterday? every commentator i heard last night made the point that if pablo and eddie wen't, then consistency demanded that onyewu should have too.
trev is spot on about mcbride being completely legless with fatigue at the end and that his energy level demanded a substitution for the last 15 minutes. trev also got it right that if wolff or johnson had been on the pitch, neither would have been just standing there when beasley's shot whistled by them.
all in all, i think the americans performed really well. convey played so well and i think he could have made a difference if he'd not had to be sacrificed after pablo went off.
for the ghana game, pablo is the real loss. the replacement for him in the squad is ben olsen and he's not quick enough and always even value to be sent off with his late challenges. jimmy conrad is younger and fitter than pope and will slot in just fine.
the smart money is on italy and ghana advancing, but last night's performance salvaged something from what is likely to be remembered as a bad wc for america.
Baseball during the WC, Sir Trev? What would 'Arry Redknapp think?
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