Nine man USA hold ten man Italy
Were they too arrogant or dismissive? Probably. Italy should have beaten the USA last night in Kaiserslautern. Instead their numerical advantage made them complacent. They assumed they would win as a goal was just a matter of time. Then time ran out and oops, they only had a draw.
Gilardino’s early header gave the Azzurri the lead which they hardly deserved as the USA had made the better start and looked a different proposition to the team that had been demolished by the Czechs. They got the equalizer their play deserved through an unexpected gift from Cristiano Zaccardo who sliced his attempted clearance badly and saw it end up in his own net. Then came the sendings off which changed the game. De Rossi stupidly elbowed McBride and then almost out of instinct displayed the classic Italian hand signal - palms together waving backwards and forwards as if to say, “Who? me? You’ve got it all wrong“. The numerical advantage was short-lived as Mastroeni was sent off for a bad foul on Pirlo. Eddy Pope was the next to go for a second yellow card.
That almost seemed to be Italy’s undoing. Yes Kasey Keller made a couple of great saves but ultimately Italy seemed content to pass the ball in front of the American area without taking a shot. Indeed the Italians were lucky that DaMarcus Beasley’s shot was contentiously ruled off side - Brian McBride was in an offside position but arguably not interfering with play.
The long suffering Italian fans had been full of hope coming to Germany. This team was meant to be different to the previous teams - more attacking. The first match gave them hope. But in this match they reverted to type. Come 9th July, Italy will still be 3 times champions.
Here are the goals with a Brazilian touch of commentary class. We have never heard so much jubilation over an own goal.
