World Cup: USA v. Italy

[muriel_volestrangler]

should be very good - USA have attacked well; though Italy got the first goal, the USA pressure produced an own goal from the Italian defence. And then a blatant foul on McBride (blood all over his face, but he's back on now) reduced the Italians to 10 men. With an hour of play to go, the USA stand a real chance in this.

On edit: but now the USA are down to 10 players too. A harsh decision by the referee, I think. The tackel deserved yellow, but not red.

[tridim]

1. A "make up call" red card huh..

And people wonder why Soccer sometimes pisses me off.

Elbowing a guy in the face does not equal a typical open field tackle. That was nothing short of pure crap.

[manic expression]

2. I agree

that red to Mastroeni was terrible. He didn't even have his cleats up. The refs have NOT impressed me lately.

It's half time now, we'll see how this plays out (the US is playing way better than before, although the Italians might be able to exploit our pressure).

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. His studs were up

but at the same time it's a question of timing - it was an attempt to go for the ball. The elbow, on the other hand, had only one purpose - to hurt.

[manic expression]

7. I don't think so

his feet were ankle-level and I don't think he angled his feet upwards, but that's my opinion.

Anyway, you're right, he was going for the ball. There's no question about De Rossi's elbow, though -- the referee can't not give a red in that case.

[meow2u3]

4. Mastroeni's red card was bull$#it

That foul he committed deserved a yellow card, at worst. That was sheer payback.
Nevertheless, each side is playing with 10 guys.

[meow2u3]

5. Eddie Pope just got red carded

Another bullshit red card by that ref. That asshole ref doesn't know what the hell he's doing. I hope to God it doesn't cost us the game.

Now we have to play with 9 men.

[T_i_B]

12. I thought the Eddie Pope red was fair

two bookable offences = one red. However, the first US red was a clear booking IMHO, not a sending off.

Congrats to the US for holding on for a draw though. You guys deserved it. And the Ghana game should be very interesting as they were superb against the Czech Republic. The US are in a very tough open group and unlike in the other groups, this may well go down to the wire.

[SpiralHawk]

6. A deliberate elbow to the face is a shameful cowardly play

Throw the bum out.

Cheap, dangerous, thuggish. No sympathy for thugs.

Only Republicons would attempt to defend that low level of sportsmanship.

[northzax]

13. I doubt Rossi will play again

in this here Finals- he's already been suspensed from at European Championship the other year (for spitting on a player) so it seems likely that FIFA will give him the boot. Thay should.

[Hav]

14. .

That was actually his teammate Totti from Roma but I agree that I don't want to see this idiot playing in the tournament again. It was a really ugly foul.

I also noticed that many American fans (on other football forums) could absolutely not understand the second straight red card. Maybe they are relatively new to football/soccer but I have seen enough of these injuries to question this red card. If Pirlot got unlucky (like heaving his full weight on the leg that got hit), he would have been out for months. Whether it was mistimed or not, when you attack with both feet like that and hit the other player, you shouldn't wonder about a red. Fair tackles are ok but as soon as the health of the players are at stake, these kind of actions have no place in football. And de Rossi's action doesn't mean that there needs to be blood to warrant a red card.
A believe that a large majority of neutral observers also agreed with the second red.

Pope on the other hand had bad luck with his first yellow. A referee just can't see something like this (maybe a good assistant could have seen it).

[northzax]

16. oh, the cards were fine, actually

a slight quibble with Pope's, might have been worth a first yellow, but not a second, on a team that's already down a man and frankly, beating the living shit out of Italy. In general, though, I didn't like the refereeing at all, it was inconsistent, interfered too much with the flow of the game and he was trying too hard to keep control by coming down too hard on ticky-tack stuff (was there a ball contested in the air that WASN'T a foul one way or the other?) It was painful to watch, like having a figure skating judge referee a hockey game, the ref seemed to not have any idea what was going on a lot of the time. (and yes, that includes some useless fouls on Italy, and a few quasi-questionable offsides on the Azzuri that saved the tie) In a game where everyone is pissed at the ref, and that's part of the story, something is going on.

[ticapnews]

8. Obviously, the referee had a big bet on the game...

Or the Italian players made generous contributions to his retirement fund. Hopefully he'll need it after this game. If FIFA allow him to referee another World Cup match it will be a stain on the game.

How long until someone finds a link between this referee and the Italian soccer gambling scandal?

[Kipling]

9. Wow. That was bizarre. Especially that own goal.

Italy were the more skillful team, but they just didn't push the game to the Americans. And seeing as how they played dirty, mean and mighty unclean I'm not sorry they failed.
That's going to be very, very embarassing back in Rome. The press are going to hack them to shreds.

[pinto]

10. It was a good game, even with all the glitches. Win would've been

a bonus, though.

[ny_liberal]

11. Wow! What a game!

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/img/19/0,4145,2727827,00.jpg

[SKKY]

15. Fantastic showing gentlemen!!!

Now that's the bravery we need to show to advance into the next round! I've never been more proud
of a US National team than I am of this one! Fantastic!

[SpiralHawk]

17. Gigadittoes on the "brave showing," Sailor

You are right. When all is said and done, the US team played a gutsy game.

I predict they will play an even more insprired game on Thursday, and come away with a win...