The US team was more balanced than against the Czech Republic – particularly when they had 11 men on the park. Dempsey looked comfortable on the right and Donovan and Convey settled quickly.
It was a typical Italian start. Absorb pressure, bend but do not break and then take the first chance on offer. I thought the American defense was too high on the free kick and gave Gilardino far too much room to move into.
The momentum switched for a third time with the Zaccardo own goal. A poor piece of work from the Italian defender. Then seconds later De Rossi got a straight red card for something that you would be arrested for if you did it in public. Absolutely deserved.
My thoughts as we approached half time was that Mastroeni was going to be a key player in the 2nd half to make sure that the Italians didn’t catch the US on the break.
The red card he got was the worst decision of the day by far. Yellow yes – red, no way. A slide tackle no lunge, not over the ball – a very poor decision.
The third red card of the day saw Pope sent off. It should have been a yellow card, which meant he was going to go anyway. It certainly did not warrant a straight red.
Arena did a good job of shuffling his players and Conrad plugged a big hole at centre back. At the time, I thought it a bit odd going with a back four when you only had another four outfield players but it worked out.
Beasley’s disallowed goal I would have to say the referee got right. It looked from the TV angle as if McBride was blocking Buffon’s view.
The US players ran themselves into the ground and they achieved a glorious result.
Man of the Match – It could have been one on five or six players but I am going for Carlos Bocanegra. He won tackles; he got up and down the wing and had a thoroughly good game.
Added thought - I have tried to avoid mentioning the announcers but…….there was 20 minutes left with tension rising by the second and we heard about Lippi’s son and the Italian scandal. If you cannot convey something about the game at that stage in a game can you please just be quite? It was such an absolutely pointless piece of information.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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