SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer US Vs Italy DO NOT READ

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.