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At halftime it's 1-1, with both teams reduced to 10 men. De Rossi certainly deserved the red card for a disgusting elbow on Brian McBride which caused him to have to leave the field with a bad facial laceration. Later, Mastroeni is sent off for a rash but certainly not red card worthy tackle that was undoubtedly a make up call. If Mastroeni's foul was a red card, how did Nesta receive nothing for the tackle from behind on Convey on the edge of the box earlier in the game? Unbelievable. As far as the goals go, Italy scored on a free kick that was flicked in by Gilardino, good goal, silly of the US to try and play an offside trap but a couple of the players not get the message. US gets back into the game by a free kick as well, that Zaccardo managed to brilliantly divert into his own goal.

U.S. down to 9 man, Eddie Pope gets his 2nd yellow of the match, sending him off and bsolutly ruining the game and possibly any chance of the U.S. coming out with a win over the Italians.

This referee is just absolutely a joke. What else can be said. Get a life REF

Cheers can be heard from around the country as Demarcus Beasley scores an incredible goal sneaking past Buffon the U.S. is up 2-1, oculd this be a come back. NOOOO! Don't say it's so, Mcbride is called offside bringing back the goal and taking the 2-1 off of the scoreboard, Beasley has redeemed himself just to be let back down by a simple mistake from his own teamate. An offsides call could change the face of this game and possibly U.S. world cup dreams for the next 4 years.

USA finally gets a point in this cup, but they have a tough challenge agains Ghana. This group is up for grbs by anyone. As far as this game, very sloppy by both teams. First that flagrant foul on Mcbride, but director, Mastroeni did go in harsh as a retaliation on that card. Although it wouldnt have been a red in any other situation, this game was very tense and the ref had to put his foot down. good call on that red. Now as for Pope's yellow, iffy call but Pope should have been careful knowing he had a yellow. Very sloppy game with some very costly decsisons by everyone.

Good call on the red for Mastroeni? Are you serious or are you on crack? If you are serious, you need to pull your head from your nether-regions.... That should have been a yellow card and nothing more. This was the worst officiated game I have watched in a long time, and I have seen a lot of crappy games. What a horrible game to watch. The flow of the game was destroyed, and it was like everyone was afraid of touching anyone for fear of being ejected. What was up with calling it tight for the first 70 or so minutes, and then calling nothing in the last 20? This was horrible for both the USA and Italy. I hope that this ref is done for the tournament. I guess he was suspended in 2002 for call irregularities, and it showed today. I feel bad for both teams that had to play with him refereeing.

From my couch, I was hoping to see Johnson instead of Beasley for the sake of offense. If we were to play defense for the remainder of the match, I would have guessed Mathis before Beasley.

Perhaps it's me. I recognize Beasley's speed, but I'm not a fan of his touch. He seems to have a lot of support in the US.

I didnt say the ref did a good job, i agree with you that the ref did a horrendous job, but you cant go in like that after what happened to one of your teammates. The ref interpreted it as retaliation from the earlier foul and had to put a stop to that. Any ref would have done that same thing. Like i said, in any other situation, had McBride not gotten hit like that and the game was going with no tension among the players, the foul would have been a yellow. But the game was going out of hand and the ref had to put his foot down.

yeah, mastroeni's red was very harsh....yes it was studs up, but the ball was at the players feet and the tackle wasnt from behind. shoulda been a yellow and nothing more.
that ref was terrible....he makes up the italian red with a us red, but apparently didnt have enough so comes back after halftime to screw up everything...yeah pope fouled him, but yellow worthy?

Also, why wasn't johnson in the game? mcbride didnt do anything in the second half except negate our go ahead goal. definitely thought you sub johnson for mcbride and have beasley and johnson run at the italians in hopes of getting it back!

I hate we couldn't pull this one out. We still have a chance, but we must be on top of our game.

GO ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (for one game)

Any ref? I am a ref and I wouldn't have....

..........look, the ref was horrible and i agree with you that he shouldnt ref another game, but he ahd to do what he ahd to do. It was retaliation one way or another. Let's be real here. And if Mastroeni didnt mean it as a retaliation, he picked a bad time to do that

All's I am saying is that it should have been a yellow. If I would have gone and pulled a red for a play like that at the Illinois state cup games that I did, the coach/assessor would have crawled up my butt. I just didn't see the reason for the red. It was NOT a red card offense as explained in the FIFA handbook. A yellow followed by some harsh words would have worked rather than changing the outcome of the game to make a point. As they tell us in our clinics, the referee is there to provide for fair play and the safety of the players. The referee is not there to draw attention to themselves....IMO I thought it was horrible. YOu may believe that it was a deserved red...I on the other hand do not, and no matter of discussion will change my mind. Oh well.....better luck and hopefully better referees for the next game!

Yeah, there's nothing we can do about that.

Jag

You're an idiot! Anytime the official is the story of the game, not the players, he has done a terrible job. This officials call, like your comments " good call on that red" are ludicrous.

How many times do i have to say this.........THE REF WAS HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!But that red on Mastroeni was given out as RETALIATION for that foul on McBride. That's how the ref took it. ON ANY OTHER SITUATION, MASTROENI WOULD HAVE RECEIVED A YELLOW CARD. But putting into perspective what happened earlier, the ref thought it was retaliation. that's why i said good call on that red. He did what he ahd to do whether we like, agree or what have ya.

*****WRONG AGAIN*****

The ref should have cautioned him, there were other fouls by the U.S. between then and the time of the Mcbride foul. Just throwing cards around does not get control of the game. It was a ill timed foul by Mastroeni, but not a red card.

Switch the tables. Let's say McBride elbowed an italian player intentionally. Ok, red card, he's out. Later, one of the italian players slides a little harshly on one of the US players. He gets a yellow, what do u say then? Wouldnt you argue that it was retaliation and he deserves a red? The ref gave the warning on those earlier fouls. HE, the ref in his own mind, not the mind of US fans, thought it was retaliation and did what he thought was right. Look, even experts are saying that it was the right decision by the ref, just the wrong time for Mastroeni. And the other fouls between those times 24/7, were they that harsh? Look,im not gonna get u to see it because it changed the game for the US and it might have cost them to have a chance of winning.

I believe their may some truth in there being a Uruguay link to the Italy referee bribary scandel after watching this dreadful performance. I expect Totti had to go go off early so he could get to the local gas station to get the required cash for referee.

The ref probably asked for quick payment so he could cover pulling his flights home forward a couple of weeks. He surely will never referee a decent game again.

If I were Bruce Arena, I would have told it like it was at the press conference and taken the fine.

The ref was absolutely awful. He was banned in 2002 and yet is allowed to ref a WC game ??? It's crazy and it probably cost the USA a second round appearance. That will add up to a lot of FIFA ranking points.

i was highly impressed by the US performance today bc if any other team would have been in our situation they prob would have lost control and Italy would have been scoring left and right, unfortunatly the ref cost the US i would say 2 pts, that i believe they deserve after fighting off a soccer power house with just 9 men even though Italy did have 10. I do not think it baise(sp?) when i say that the Italy red card was well deserved, and well the straight red for Mastorni was just awful, Pope's first card was crazy and the second foul was all ball.
And i have heard that the Italian mob has caused problems before in world cups with refs, that may be what was up today or he just plane sucks.

What's up with the criticism of McBride for the offsides? Beasley makes one play in 2 games and McBride gets criticized for being offsides? Chances are the shot would have been picked up quite easily had the keeper not been obstructed. Correct call and just part of the game. McBride is among of the best strikers this country has produced. Beasley may be one day, but has miles to go.

Mark, we actually agree! The offsides was the correct call. An aggressive striker like McBride will find himself in the offside position time and again. It happens. And yes, it was a good call because the keeper may very well have made the save if McBride had not been there.

well i wasnt at all thrilled to see beasley on the field.. he did nothing besides the goal he scored that was called back. i also wasnt pleased to see the US sit back when they had eddie johnson on the bench ready to go. he could have came in and done something huge at the end with nobody on the field really moving faster than a jog. i think we could have beat them 9 on 10 at the end. but i guess thats why im not the coach.

I agree. I think McBride is a great player, but somewhere around the 80th minute would have been a great time to insert Johnson's speed and fresh legs.

It was hard to tell on the tube. Was the US playing 4-3-1 in the second half after putting Conrad in for Convey?

Seriously! McBride had a great game.. but it seemed like a no brainer that Johnson would come in and win the game.. ..i felt it in my bones.. and it didn't happen :|

Mcbride is by far the toughest striker around I have to say. He scores most of his goals with his head, which usually has a huge lump on it or a cut, but I have not seen many chances for him to get a good head on goal. Im sure everyon felt like I felt about the 85th minute when the commentators said why is johnson not in. Seriusly what was Arena thinking sure we locked it in for a tie but with johnson up top late he could of caused serious problems for a fatigue Italian team. I guess one point still gives us hope though. And seriously even balboa was saying that he doubts that ref will ref another game

Coach P, we probably agree on much in regards to soccer. That other issue just hits a raw nerve with me.

I was a much better player and ref than I ever was a coach, from my own assessment. But for the life of me, I can't understand why Beasley was inserted ahead of Johnson. Versus the Checs, Beasley could not have been less effective or Johnson more. And as big of a McBride fan as I am, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings to see him pulled for 15 or 20. Johnson appeared to have earned an opportunity.

I agree with Dude about johnson. I think that with Johnson out there USA would have won even with nine man. They held their composure through all the adversity in this game, and the US should build the momentum for a very tough ghana squad. Through it all, i think the US will come up a bit short this time around

Regardless of what happens on Thursday.. I think the US has certainly redeemed themselves from the 3-0 loss against the Czechs.

Hopefully the moron (forget who it was) that said that loss would set us back 10 years is liking the taste of his own foot.

GO USA!

Mark, remember, there were only 9 men on the field for the US in the second half. Subbing Johnson instead of Beasley for Dempsey would have meant only two midfielders (Reyna and Donovan). Both Johnson and McBride are true strikers, not midfielders.

And as big of a McBride fan as I am, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings to see him pulled for 15 or 20. Johnson appeared to have earned an opportunity.

I'm with you. Johnson for McBride.

It's really a shame the ref ruined the game too. We were beating the Italians before all the reds started coming out. We were out agressing them..and had the majority of posession..

Just think about what a 11v11 win or draw would have been like..

The official cheated the fans of what had the appearance of being a great match. I am sure he will have time to think about it on his way home from Germany tomorrow.

Congratulations to the U.S. for their great effort, after being put in a situation that they never should have been in.

Kasey Keller after today's match:
"These guys are dead (tired) and proved that Americans don’t roll over, that’s for damn sure."

first red=good call
second red= bad call
third red= bad call
offsides= good call
If your talking about a ref after a world cup game, than he more than likely did a poor job as is the case here. kind of strange that bruce did not use all his subs seeing that he was only playing with 9 ment!! Wanted to see johnson but considering the circumstances another midfielder would have mad more since. thanks for the heart boys. beat ghana!!!

well......not much more to say that hasn't been said. one thing i'm sure of, though, is that arena's intent for johnson has been to come in towards the end of the game to take advantage of the opposing team's fatigue and sneak in a late goal. with a man down and a tie score, however, it's hard to focus your attention towards offense. let us not forget what beasley has done in the past for US; while johnson has most definitely earned a spot on the field, (i'm sure we'll see him with some fireworks against ghana), beasley has been one of the cornerstones of american soccer for the past few years. sure he had a terrible opening game, but in my eyes he came back against italy as the same player who helped us to the 2002 quarterfinals. let's everyone try not to judge a player on one game; im sure most of the people on this board played competitively at one point in their lives, and if so every one of you had one of the games where nothing seems to be working and every ball that comes near you embarassingly ricochets off your foot out of bounds. sure beasley had a bad game, but that in no way means he might not be the guy that gets us past ghana and gives us a chance at world cup life.

obviously you have not seen much of DMB this year. He is not being judged on one game.