|
Feisty U.S. toughs it out
Combine with Italy for record three red cards
Sun, June 18, 2006
|
 |
 |
 |
KAISERSLAUTERN -- The 48 hours bunked nearby at a U.S. air force base may have felt like home, sounded like home and tasted like home.
But a determined group of American soccer players last night learned, yet again, the challenge of winning a big game against an elite world power.
For 90 minutes, the feisty U.S. players tried to buck their trend of struggling in Europe and inject a little U.S. football into soccer's World Cup.
Playing most of the second half with just nine players after two ejections, the Americans somehow fought the favoured Italians to a 1-1 draw.
With determination, if not always finesse, they battled to the end, delighting the sellout crowd of 49,000 at Fritz Walter Stadium, many from nearby Ranheim Air Force Base.
"We gave it everything we had," said American 'keeper Kasey Keller who made the save of the tournament getting a hand on a dangerous chance by Alessandro Del Piero late in the second half. "This game proved that Americans are not going to roll over. That's for damn sure."
The Americans knew prior to kickoff that new life had suddenly been breathed into what most are now calling the Group of Death.
When African upstarts Ghana pulled the shocker of the tournament by knocking off the Czech Republic, suddenly a draw for the U.S. last night would keep the pulse.
Now, a win in their final group match against Ghana later in the week and an Italy score over the Czechs would see the Americans advance to the round of 16.
"Perhaps the four points will be good enough to get us out of the group," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "Not too many teams would have held their composure like we did. I'm proud of our guys."
Emotional for fans and players alike -- there was a strong Italian contingent here too -- the match was full of gamesmanship on both sides.
Every time they were touched, in the opinion of the Americans anyway, Azzurri players went down in a heap.
Every time a call went against them, the Americans carped at the officials, accusing the Italians of diving.
"That is not something we listen too," Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi said. "It was a hard fight the whole game."
It was at that, with three red cards equalling a record for a World Cup match.
The feistiness started early, but turned ugly when Italian defender Daniele De Rossi was sent off for a vicious elbow on Brian McBride, who had to get stitches on the sideline.
Next, American Pablo Mastroeni was tossed for a brutal tackle on Italy's Andrea Pirlo just before the break.
The call that most riled the U.S. though was when Eddie Pope, who had already been booked, was shown red for a hard tackle that most thought wasn't ejection material.
"No way in hell," Keller said when asked about the card.
The Italians would dispute that assessment, of course, pointing the several jostles they took in battles for a loose ball. Let's just say if it were American football, there would have been numerous pass interference calls.
Neither team could argue with the end result, however and it certainly gave the Italians the upper hand in the group with four points.
Though play was ragged at times, both teams had their chances. The Azzurri opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Alberto Gilardino got his head on a sharp free kick from Andrea Pirlo.
Then the European stars had a gift for their American foes. Cristian Zaccardo got the back of his leg on a cross from Bobby Convey for an own goal that restored the draw.
And with it, an opporutnity that just 24 hours earlier had seemed so unlikely
"We're where we want to be," Arena said. "This is definitely the toughest group here and we're alive."
rob.longley@tor.sunpub.com
|
