LiveBlog: Italy-USA
USA held on to draw 1-1 after the game was reduced to 9 v 10 by a ref who just couldn’t stop showing off his red card.
Final score: Italy 1-1 United States
-Thanks to everyone who stopped by and left comments. Apologies again for the technical breakdown.
-For the record, it was technical problems, and not what jeremy suggested in his 10:30 pm comment. And I wasn’t red carded by Jorge Larrionda either.
Full-time All over. Good result for the US considering they had 9 men, and a preformance ten time better than the last one. Still not sure about the refereeing though.
89:00 Conrad tugs Iaquinta’s shirt in the box. Amazingly, this ref doesn’t blow for a foul, penalty, red card or anything. Conrad lucky though.
84:00 Pirlo splits US defence with a pass, Iaquinta miscontrols it.
79:00 Another shot from Del Piero, this time a curling effort from 25 yards, another save from Keller. Welcome back Kasey.
73:00 Del Pero hit a left footed volley but Keller makes a fantastic athletic save. That was important, no arguments.
65:00 DMB has the ball in the net, with a low left footed shot past Buffon! Ruled out though. McBride was judged to be offside, which he was, and interfering with play, which he wasn’t. Actually he sort of was as he was blocking Buffon’s line of sight and lifted his foot over the shot. Could have stood though. DMB very unlucky.
63:00 Donovan runs at the Italian defence, then slides a ball to McBride. BMB misses this glorious chance by slicing it wide. Maybe he’s still dizzy from the blow to the head.
62:00 Dempsey off. DMB on. Dempsey was doing well.
61:00 Perrotta shoots wide. Toni (who’s been dominated by Gooch) off for Iaquinata.
54:00 Del Piero on for Owngoalio Zaccardo
53:00 Bocanegra heads onto his own bar.
52:00 Conrad on for Convey
-The following wasn’t LiveBlogged but I’ve filled the action in after the event. Just for the record.
-So sorry folks. Technical problems. Hope no one was relying solely on the LiveBlog for information. Looks like I wasn’t needed anyway, as the comments continued regardless! I read the manual and it seems my laptop has a three red card minumum before it explodes.
50:00 Can anyone work out USA’s formation? Looks like 4-3-1 or 3-4-1.
49:00 OK US fans. It’s still 1-1, still OK. I refuse to accept playing 9 v 10 as an excuse for losing.
47:33 Pirlo’s free kick just over. As with Mastroeni, the ref is within the rules to show that card to Pope, but he doesn’t need to. He should be calming things down not creating more drama. Maybe he’s got the World Cup confused with Big Brother?
47:00 Marcello Balboa thinks they should sub out the referee!
46:00 RED CARD! Second yellow for Pope and he’s off as well. This is getting crazy.
45:00 We’re off. 1-1 and 10 v 10 if you’ve just joined us.
-I counted four reds in the first half. De Rossi’s card, Mastroeni’s card, McBride’s nose and Zaccardo’s face.
-Alexi Lalas wants to see DMB in this game, and Eric Wynalda agrees. Not sure which is more shocking, the fact that they want DMB on the field or the fact that they agree on something.
-Seeing that Mastro tackle again, it was more or less two-footed which is obviously not good. On the other hand, if Mastroeni had only been shown a yellow, very few would have been calling for red.
Half-time 1-1, and 10 v 10 for the second half.
44:30 That looked like a yellow to me. Am I being biased? Let me know Jen in Boston. Either way, it’s 10v10 now.
44:00 Red card! Mastroeni shown a straight red for late tackle. He looks shocked. I am too.
42:45 Reyna and Donovan work an opening, Reyna shot blocked. Really liking Reyna today. Vintage.
41:00 Mastro shoots from about 40 yards out. Lands on top of the net, very close. I take back what I said about him earlier.
37:40 Gattuso and Matroeni battling away. They’re similar players (though Gattuso is better with the ball). Would love to see a 50/50 ball contested between those two.
36:00 McBride moving about more this game. In the Czech game he looked like Ronaldo (that’s not a compliment, if you saw him against Croatia).
34:45 Lippi brings off Totti for Gattuso. Totti not fully fit, Gattuso will win planty tackles. Makes sense. Italy have it in the net but it’s offside.
33:30 This is getting pretty rough. Maybe Eddie Johnson was right with his whole “war” thing…
32:00 Thanks Jen in Boston. Just wanted to check.
31:00 McBride back on to a decent size cheer. Toni gets a shot away, just wide. Not happy with Eddie Pope so far.
30:00 If De Rossi should be elbowing anyone in the face it’s Zaccorda.
28:00 Am I being biased or does De Rossi absolutely deserve that? Looked very deliberate and now McBride’s face is streaming with blood.
27:30 Red Card! More good news for USA. De Rossi off. Looks like he elbowed McBride in the face.
26:45 GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL! USA! Zaccardo swings at the ball to clear the cross and slices it past Buffon with his shin. Get in!
26:00 Reyna wins a free kick wide right. He’s covering a lot of ground for an old man.
25:00 Mastroeni with a rubbish shot. Stick to tackling Pablo.
24:00 Just saw the replay of Gilardino’s violin celebration. Is he playing a sad song for US soccer?
21:30 Gilardino unamarked. Looked like the US defence was trying to come out and catch them offside. They failed.
21:30 GOAL! Gilardino scores a header from a Pirlo free kick.
20:00 Pope booked after a tussle with Gilardino. Isn’t he supposed to be infallible? Looks like he got a handful of blue shirt. Now Mastroeni fouls Totti.
19:00 McBride not looking quite as lonely up front today.
17:46 Dempsey shoots just wide. Hope DaMarcus Beasley looks embarrassed on the bench.
15:30 Dempsey with about 50 step overs before crossing, Convey shoots over. Dempsey looking awesome. If he scores, go leave a comment on www.clintdempsey.com
14:00 US free kick right on the edge of the box… Convey hits the wall.
12:30 Canavaro heads wide, but he was offside anyway.
11:30 Onyewu outmuscles Toni without fouling. More like it. Are people from Canada supporting the US?
10:00 Solid tackle from Mastroeni, solid start from USA who are enjoying plenty posession.
8:30 Still scoreless here, but USA looking evenly matched. Donovan nearly put McBride through but Italy had numbers back. Another foul by Onyewu. He’s heading for a yellow card.
6:00 ABC sound guy still struggling. If it is their first day, it might also be their last.
4:30 Totti booked for a foul on Reyna. Sounds like a pro USA crowd. Another foul called on Onyewu.
3:20 McBride wins a flick on, down the left. US get a throw out of it. ABC’s sound guy is having a nightmare as the commentators voices keep going up and down in volume. Must be his (or her) first day.
2:00 Onyewu called for a foul on Gilardino. You can’t manhandle Italian strikers as if they’re Jared Borgetti.
0:32 First mention for the sponsor.
0 We’re off.
-USA now. Dempsey had his eyes closed, Reyna not singing, Brian McBride’s eyes are tiny.
-National anthems. Italy first. One Italy fan singing it in his blue underwear. His parents must be proud.
-Teams are coming out. Got to feel sorry for the kids holding hands with Oguchi Onyewu and Luca Toni. Those guys must look like monsters.
-10 minutes. Even if USA lose, I’d still like to see an improved performance.
-15 minutes to go. ABC’s pre-game is all adverts. Interesting approach.
-I’m watching this on ABC. How about everyone else? Is anyone unlucky enough to be stuck at work on a Saturday?
-In the interests of full disclosure, should let everyone know I’m worldcupblog’s USA blogger, and will be supporting them.
-Italy line up, as expected:
G Buffon
C Zaccardo
A Nesta
F Cannavaro
G Zambrotta
S Perrotta
A Pirlo
D De Rossi
F Totti
L Toni
A Gilardino
-For those who can’t read signatures (not the smartest way to display the team, shame on you US Soccer) the team is:
GK: Keller
RB: Cherundolo
LB: Bocanegra
CB: Pope
CB: Onyewu
DM: Mastroeni
RM: Dempsey
LM: Convey
CM: Reyna
CM: Donovan
CF: McBride
-Any strong reactions to the first eleven? I’m surprised not to see Eddie Johnson, but very pleased to see Clint Dempsey. Love the guy’s attitude.
- Arena has named his starting eleven and it looks like this:
-Bad start for ABC. We just heard their sound guy humming to himself while adjusting the levels on the crowd volume, then he sa “oh jesus!” before they cut to commercials. That’s entertaiment.
-1 hour till kick off. Great result from the Ghana game, though it makes USA’s loss to the Czechs look even worse. If that’s possible.
Pregame: It is do or die time for the US. Will they do or will they die? What do you think?
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Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 968 comments.
Read the rest of the comments
By Roland | June 18th, 2006 at 6:05 am 
I couldn’t participate, because I was drunk and enjoying this horrible match at a bar at the time, but it makes me sad to read this blog.
Posted from 
United States
By spaymen | June 18th, 2006 at 6:05 am I hope the US conitinues to play the tough marking defense against Ghana. This we have proven ourselves in today. Sometimes you have to break-up the flow of the game by being phisical. It is not finesse Football. It is Football though. Contact football is winning Football. Ghana can attack and they have lots of speed and take passes beautifuly on the fly. We must disrupt the flow and hope they score an own GOAL. Maybee we can get ome too. GO USA!
Posted from United States
By dirk | June 18th, 2006 at 6:10 am Agreed Foobar, it was a typical US (Patti) response when things arent going the US’s way. Perhaps you can understand that.
Posted from United States
By dirk | June 18th, 2006 at 6:13 am U.S. won the neutral fans support today, no doubt. It was a great game for the U.S. Italy was the lesser team today
Posted from United States
By Foobar | June 18th, 2006 at 6:18 am Since we’re on the subject of politics, I heard today that the government of Ghana offered $20,000USD to each player if they won a game. Apparently they will receive the money if the promise was true.
If the US wants to be serious about the sport, what if the US government put big money stakes into it? I think we’d see a different result. If capturing Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed was worth $25 million, then so is doing what it takes to advance from Group E. 
By spaymen | June 18th, 2006 at 6:20 am Flopping is so common it is almost funny. Italy and Argentina are some of the best. FIFA keeps trying to stop it but it is sooo effective anyway. They fly, flop and roll to influence the ref. It works. Just like phisical play works. If you touch any quality foreward in the world he will flop in the box. He has been rewarded too often not to. Flopping is supposed to be bad and bring a card too. I noticed Ghana does not do much acting. This could benefit the US. The Italians love the stretcher. They are too good at rything and stopping play. The ref. started to cry today in sympathy. I was touched myself. I’m not blaming this ref. but Germany has won so many WOLD CUPS with phisical play it is part of this Tournament. Just like flopping.
Posted from United States
By aaron | June 18th, 2006 at 6:21 am The best players play in the british and spanish leagues. Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo in his prime, and now Ballack. These are just a few.
Posted from United States
By dw | June 18th, 2006 at 6:25 am You guys are still at it? Geez, the rest of the world is getting ready for Brazil-Australia, and we’re still on this?
I feel a need to poke a hole in this fallacy:
“the italian league is still more watched than any other league.”
Not even. It’s not the best attended league in Europe. It’s fourth, behind the Bundesliga, Premiership, and La Liga. It has a nice TV contract, but more people watch the Premiership now.
“CR has to play for a win. They can’t rely on a US-Ghana draw. That means Italy will have to play defense to preserve a tie (all they need)”
Problem is that an Italy tie and a Ghana win puts the Italians in E2 to be whumped by Brazil. E1 will give them either Croatia or Australia. A tie is nice, but if Italy is really interested in winning the Cup this time around, they better beat the Czechs.
The nice thing is that the Czechs aren’t going to shake hands with the Italians and settle for the draw, not with Ghana or the US in a position to take away their pass to the knockouts.
Thursday is going to be a wild, wild day.
By dirk | June 18th, 2006 at 6:58 am Go Socceroos! Love Australia, and if then win or draw, party at my house!
Posted from United States
By dirk | June 18th, 2006 at 7:10 am US has a chance! This will be great!
Posted from United States
By Jack | June 18th, 2006 at 7:12 am I am getting excited for the Australia-Brazil game. How can you not cheer for a team with the nickname socceroos?
Here’s the scenarios that would have to happen for the US to advance.
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5704208
All require the US to beat Ghana. Interestingly, the US can advance if Czech wins. But the margain of victory for US and the Czech has to be 6 total.
By go nads | June 18th, 2006 at 7:29 am Go Aussies! Sombody has to chalange Brazil. Let’s get phisical!
Posted from United States
By devansh | June 18th, 2006 at 7:56 am buffon 8
canavaro 7
nesta 9-was very good today
zacardo 4
zambrotta 7
pirlo 10 -He played so well,what a good player
perrotta 6
totti 5-pooooooor perfomance del piero shold have replaced him……
de rossi 3
toni 6
gilardino 7
del piero 9-he should have started the match ,very good performance by del piero,had some good shots
By Akbar | June 18th, 2006 at 8:59 am Dirk: you aren’t making sense:
-you say the second red was technically correct. Full stop. If it’s technuically correct, why should anything else matter? Do the USA deserve special privileges?
-you say that the 2 yellow cards decision was “ridicolous”. How exactly? Is the referee expected to give a second yellow, and then tell the player to remain on the pitch? No, 2 yellows = a red. Full stop.
Posted from 
Switzerland
By dirk | June 18th, 2006 at 10:52 am Akbar; You don’t seem to undesrtand the game in it’s full complexity. Of course a foul is a foul, but a ref should sense when a yelloe should really be shown. This red was clueless. This was very poor refereeing all the way.
Posted from United States
By dirk | June 18th, 2006 at 10:55 am Go Socceroos. And may France and Switzerland be both eliminated (having played the worat WC game we’ve experienced to date
Posted from United States
By enzo | June 18th, 2006 at 11:54 am Hey! Dirk, thanks for the invitation, great guy, friendly, that’s what I like. I’ll be at your house for the party and bring some great Aussie wine, but, um, eh, will you pay for the airfare?
Posted from 
Australia
By Eric Yuan | June 18th, 2006 at 1:02 pm Congratulations to the American team who put up an amazing game against the Italians in this “roller coaster” feel like game!
I am happy that the that the game ended as a draw. In the last 35 minutes, Italy supposedly should have had control of the game when they had an advantage of an extra player in the field, but the American team put all its efforts to this 1-1 outcome. This is a good thing for the Italians which reminded them that they were not the best in their group; and I am sure this lesson will lead them to a better performance in their next match against the Czechs.
The US-Italy match was indeed very tough, but many of us agree that Jorge Larrionda is a terrible referee who lacks judgement. The second card for Pope which lead to red card was totally unecessary.
Let me remind you that during the 2003 Confederations Cup, the same Uruguayan referee awarded a controversial penalty kick against the Americans against Turkey.
All China wishes the Americans good luck in their next match!
Posted from 
China
By Welsh | June 19th, 2006 at 4:47 am Ulli G,
That is a good one!!
Posted from United States
By Welsh | June 19th, 2006 at 4:49 am To sum it up and save time and energy. This how’s going to end.
Brazil will Play italy in the next round and Ghana will play Australia. Go figure
Posted from United States
By June 17: The Daily World Cup Wrap - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | June 19th, 2006 at 7:09 am [...] USA vs Italy | LiveBlog | USA World Cup Gear, Italy World Cup Gear [...]
Posted from United States
By jack | June 19th, 2006 at 7:14 am i wish both of them good luck, who will in the next round????
Posted from 
India
By Divya(India) | June 21st, 2006 at 7:21 pm Good start by both the teams initially,but after sometime the match was very bad & i was pist off,Though Italy played well in the last games,their performance was not upto the mark with U.S.A.Being Totti banned for the past matches,i expected a goal from him against U.S.A match,but he had vey bad day & the foul he committed was bad.I Pray to god that he should be included in the coming games.Good luck for all.
Posted from India
By clark | June 22nd, 2006 at 6:22 pm There’s no justice this world cup. That TERRIBLE ref should never be allowed to ref another game. I have no respect for those diving babies from ghana. And the P K…. Someone in FIFA better make a big deal about that. that took all our momentum away and ruined any chances of a second round game. These refs are making soccer Joca Ugly.
Posted from United States
By Tonya | June 22nd, 2006 at 9:47 pm I need to find a picture of the only Italian fan singing the anthem in his underpants. Do any of you know what I can get that?
Posted from United States
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