Group E: Italy 1, United States 1 In this head-to-head between True Grit and Bel Calcio, it was the USA who emerged as moral victors with a deserved 1-1 draw at the end of topsey-turvey game, rich in incident but poor in quality.
If Italy's 2-0 win against Ghana had left us believing that finally the Azzurri had mastered the art of tournament starting, last Saturday night in Kaiserslautern sounded a painful reality check. Those of us who argued that Italy could only get better after that win against Ghana were proved emphatically wrong as they failed to deal with the aggressive and highly motivated Americans.
Worse still for Italy was the embarrassing lack of quality to their game, especially in the second half when playing 10 against nine following three sendings off. In such circumstances, one would expect the organised, tactically sophisticated team (Italy) to have no problems pressing home its advantage. Yet, it was the Americans who came closest to winning, even having a second-half goal from substitute DaMarcus Beasley correctly overruled because of the offside position of striker Brian McBride.
The post-match analysis of both coaches said much about the way the game had gone. Where Italy's Marcello Lippi was caught up in Hamletian doubts, admitting his side had played poorly, his opposite number, the USA's Bruce Arena, was understandably euphoric: "We were the better team on the night," he proclaimed.
Italy can have no complaints and even fewer excuses after a match of dramatic reversals of fortune. For instance, it was the Americans who started much the better immediately taking the game to the Italians with a frantic start that threw up early chances for Clint Dempsey and Bobby Convey. Despite the bright start, it was Italy who drew first blood with striker Alberto Gilardino diving low and well to head home a typically accurate Andrea Pirlo free kick in the 22nd minute.
Within five minutes the USA had equalised when Italian right back Christian Zaccardo turned a Convey free kick into his own with as inept piece of defending. As he tried to clear the cross, Zaccardo somehow managed to hit a cork screw shot that sent the ball in exactly the opposite direction to that intended. Within a minute, it got worse for Italy when midfielder Daniele De Rossi was deservedly sent off after a vicious elbow to the face of striker McBride. Rossi's elbow opened up a bloody cut that needed three stitches. Lippi sacrificed playmaker Francesco Totti, replacing him with Gennaro Gattuso. Yet, just when Italy seemed headed for debacle, Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda came to the rescue with another sending off as USA midfielder Pablo Mastroeni got his marching orders after a two-footed, studs-showing tackle from behind on Pirlo.
The referee appeared to do Italy yet another favour just two minutes into the second half when he sent off central defender Eddie Pope for a second yellow-card offence. Lippi reacted to the new situation by bringing on Alessandro Del Piero for Zaccardo in the 54th minute and then striker Vincenzo Iaquinta for Luca Toni in the 63rd minute.
Those all looked like good moves but with Del Piero looking ever more an ex-player and with only Pirlo able to deliver any service, Italy created just two real chances, both for Del Piero and both well saved by goalkeeper Kasey Keller. Given Ghana's defeat of the Czechs on Saturday, Group E is now so evenly matched that all four sides can still make it to the second round.
SUBSTITUTIONS
ITALY: Gattuso for Totti (35 mins), Del Piero for Zaccardo (54 mins), Iaquinta for Toni (61 mins). Subs not used: Amelia, Barone, Barzagli, Camoranesi, Grosso, Inzaghi, Materazzi, Oddo, Peruzzi. Booked: Totti, Zambrotta.
UNITED STATES: Beasley for Dempsey (62 mins), Conrad for Convey (51 mins). Subs not used: Albright, Berhalter, Ching, Hahnemann, Howard, Johnson, Lewis, O'Brien, Olsen, Wolff. Booked: Pope.
Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay).
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