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Get your pitch fix with SI.com's writers in the World Cup Blog, a daily journal of World Cup commentary, on-site reporting and reader-driven discussions.
U.S. reigns in aggression to stay alive
After a lackadaisical performance led to a 3-0 shellacking at the hands of the Czech Republic on Monday, the U.S. had a different mindset entering Saturday's game against Italy. "We tried to come out with aggression," said left back Carlos Bocanegra, who replaced Eddie Lewis in the starting lineup. "We had a different attitude." You think? Eddie Pope was whistled for a foul 30 seconds in. His partner in central defense, Oguchi Onyewu was whistled for running over Alberto Gilardino, manhandling Luca Toni and then leaning hard on Toni again -- all in the first nine minutes. Pope was booked in the 21st minute for riding Gilardino to the ground. It seemed like only a matter of time before blood was shed. And it was -- except, it was American blood, from the oft-tapped face of Brian McBride. The U.S. forward received a brutal elbow from Daniele De Rossi in the 28th minute, moments after Cristian Zaccardo's own goal tied the game at 1-1. It looked like the break the Yanks had been waiting for the entire tournament: even on the scoreboard, up a man on the pitch. (Defender Jimmy Conrad said the own goal/sending off one-two "felt like a 2002 moment.") After the game, several U.S. players said the same thing about going a man up: Referee Jorge Larrionda was looking for a reason to send off an American and even the game. Unfortunately, they weren't thinking that during the game. "That wasn't going through my mind," said midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. "Maybe it should have been." Instead the U.S. played with the same aggression they started the game with -- and in a five-minute span their man advantage had turned into a shorthanded situation. Larrionda began pulling out his red card like he was a six-year-old showing his favorite Christmas gift. In the 45th minute, Mastroeni saw a straight red for a two-footed tackle. ("Hey Pablo, look what I got!") Pope saw a second yellow just after the half. ("Eddie, isn't this neat!") At that point, the Yanks had no choice but to rein things in. Simple aggression wasn't going to do the trick any more. They needed to use their heads ("There's no way you train a team to play 10 against nine in a World Cup, and I don't plan on doing it any more, either," said coach Bruce Arena) and their legs (with 19 players, there's a lot of space -- and a lot of running). And they did. "We didn't prepare for that," said defender Gregg Berhalter. "But when it's down to get a result or face elimination, you find a way to get a result. That's exactly what we did." A man down and in an unfamiliar situation, the U.S. gutted it out for 45 minutes. "It seemed like a pickup game," said Bocanegra. "They were coming at us in waves." But they were all repelled, and the U.S. got the result it needed. Not the one it wanted, but one that kept them alive heading into the final group stage game, against a scary Ghana side. But they will be without Mastroeni and Pope, who will be serving one-game suspensions for their red cards. Will the Yanks get the win they need shorthanded?  |
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