After a devastating loss to the Czech Republic 4 days earlier the US needed to secure points against the Italian side - something they had never before done in any World Cup on European soil. We came out of the gates hard, but slow-footed Eddie Pope (who gifted Jan Koller his early goal last Monday) watched as Gilardino stepped right in front of him to put Italy ahead in the 22nd minute. The US responded so quickly that by the time the ABC cameras were done showing replays the US had already kicked off and were moving the ball around Italy's penalty area. Less than 5 minutes later we had equalized on an own-goal by Zaccardo that McBride looked to be ready to tap home anyway. A few minutes after that it appeared that we had been handed the game when DeRossi invoked memories of Leonardo for Brazil in the '94 WC with a vicious elbow to McBride's head. Unfortunately, Pablo Mastroeni gave it right back with a nasty, two-footed, studs up tackle moments before half time. The Uruguayan referee then lost track of things and gave Pope his second yellow just moments into the second half. It was at that moment that I ordered a Guinness and a shot of Jack Daniels and conceded that our World Cup dreams were over...
But then something happened. The US didn't play like they had only 9 men on the field. They were still flying everywhere. Donovan was running right past people. And when coach Bruce Arena brought on an inspired DeMarcus Beasley it was the US who looked like they were playing a man up. Using the counter-attack to perfection in the 65th minute Beasley scored what appeared to be the first goal in World Cup history by a team reduced to 9 men. Alas, McBride was offside and the goal was negated. Sadly, it was the correct call. Still, the US persevered and with some late help by Ka-sey Kel-ler held on for the point.
So now the US is where they could only have dreamed they could be after last Monday's disgrace. Thanks to Ghana's shocking 2-0 defeat of the Czech Republic, we're still alive heading into our final group game. The US must win, win big, and hope for some help in order to qualify for the next round. But after Saturday's performance I think anything's possible...
2 comments:
This will only make it hurt that much more when we don't make it to the second round. Italy and Czech will make a "friendly agreement" to draw the next game.
The funny thing is that no matter what happens in that game, the US can advance. The way I see it, we need to beat Ghana - and BIG! Assuming Italy and Czech tie, we need to beat Ghana by 4 to advance on goal differential. If Czech wins, they need to win BIG so that we can catch up in differential.
The bad thing is that both games are on at the same time, so our strategy has to be to win by 4 throughout the match. That could hurt us by giving up a cheap goal or two. Still, I think we have to assume that Italy and Czech will draw. Arena needs to pan for an all-out assault!
You guys should have been there in person... I truly believe the fans helped USA stay strong and come out with a draw. The USA fans were CRAZY the entire game - the entire west half of the stadium stood the entire game, we cheered non-stop for our team, and we booed like madmen when Italy pulled its shenanigans. Television never bothers to pan to crowd shots for long, but viewers would have been proud. After the game, you may have seen the whole team - Kasey Keller leading the pack - come over and wave to the fans and acknowledge the amazing support given throughout the game. Damn Italians only stood and made some noise when they scored...
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