Can’t say the final score is a shocker. Italy. The United States. The Yanks not playing particularly well of late. Italy still being Italy, defending World Cup champion, and all. But the match was more interesting than that, and it was lost to the Americans by an early blow from the referee, not the Azzurri.
What did we learn from this, a 3-1 final from Pretoria? That the U.S. certainly isn’t good enough at this moment in history to withstand having a player red-carded in the 33rd minute and hope to fend off Italy. Even with the temporary salve of a goal from the penalty spot. And it is fair to wonder if the U.S. ever will be good enough to hold off an Italy for an hour while playing with 10 men.
I know. The stuffier elements of the soccer world — the big media of Europe , for example — dismiss events such as the Confederations Cup. But we’re back to getting some interesting international matchups in a non-World Cup year, and I will take a look at that every time. I mean, the novelty of Iraq and South Africa? Yes, please. Spain carving up New Zealand? Let’s have a look.
So we were back at it today, watching Brazil labor to defeat Egypt, 4-3, in the first match of Group B … and then coming back to see Italy and the U.S. a few hours later. (To see video highlights, click here.)
It will be tempting for U.S. media and fans to focus on the two goals by Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi, the Italian backup midfielder who came on in the 58th minute and scored the tying goal (and added another, in the fourth minute of stoppage time). But the real turning point was when Chilean referee Pablo Pozo red-carded Ricardo Clark in the 33rd minute for what looked like anything but a felonious assault on Italy midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
Clark banged his foot off Gattuso’s knee, and the Italian had the wit (the knack? the training?) to go down as if he had been shot, and Pozo sent off the incredulous Clark, who was preparing to argue against a caution, never mind a red card. And what looked like an unfair match turned thoroughly lopsided.
There was the false hope of a brief U.S. lead, set up in the 40th minute when Jozy Altidore got into the box and managed to lure Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini close enough that he created quite a bit of contact when he attempted to switch the ball from his right foot to his left and crashed quite convincingly. Pozo got this one right when he awarded a penalty kick that Landon Donovan predictably put past Gianluigi Buffon. That was career goal No. 40 for Landon, who has recorded nine of his last 11 goals from the penalty spot.
So, 1-0 U.S. at halftime. But only the uninitiated could have thought that would hold up till the end, no matter what “when leading at halftime” stat ESPN came up with.
Turned out, the lead held up only 13 minutes into the second half.
Things began to unravel when the 22-year-old Rossi, who was born in Teaneck, N.J., came on for Gattuso. Rossi pounced on a sloppy pass from Clint Dempsey (who was apt at nothing aside from an occasional theatric flop) in the direction of Benny Feilhaber — who was bracketed by a pair of Italians just inside the U.S. half. Feilhaber was stripped by Rossi who immediately drove toward the U.S. goal with help, wide, on either side that kept the U.S. back four spread across the field.
From about 30 yards out Rossi unleashed a powerful left-footed shot that got into the net in about a half-second, fading left as it came and striking the net on the side before settling in the back, safely past the lunging (but hopeless) save attempt of Tim Howard.
A second long-distance goal, by midfielder Daniele de Rossi, in the 71st minute, put Italy ahead. The U.S. defense perhaps should have done more on this one, but De Rossi’s shot was heavy enough to get past Oguchi Onyewu a few yards in front of goal, and Gooch’s late whiff with his right foot probably screened Howard just enough to make his lunge to his left a bit late.
And, thus, American hopes of snaking a point from this affair and being able, perhaps, to carry at least the possibility of advancement all the way into the final game of group play, were all but dashed. And then Rossi, the little midfielder from Teaneck, added the third goal, knocking home a right-footed goal on a nice pass from Andrea Pirlo.
First, a thought about Rossi.
The kid is good. The sort of sharpshooting attacking midfielder of the sort the United States doesn’t have and never has. Claudio Reyna probably is the best we ever have produced, with Tab Ramos a distant second, and neither was capable of the kind of goals Rossi scored. Particularly the first. So, yes, he would be handy to have on the U.S. side, and the man does carry a U.S. passport.
But his parents were born in Italy and his father, apparently, felt he would develop best by playing back in the home country (and can we argue the point?), so he went to Parma when he was 13 and resisted U.S. blandishments in recruiting him for the red-white-and-blue when he was 17. And now he is one of Italy’s rising stars. As if Italy needs more great players.
Meanwhile, the U.S. attack foundered once again, and the only goal was, as usual, on 1) a restart as well as 2) a penalty. Pretty much the way the U.S. gets its offense, of late. The Americans put so little pressure on Buffon — and this includes the 33 minutes when it was 11-on-11 — that they got all of one corner, to nine for Italy. Ugh.
You may recall that the Americans finished two men short the last time they played Italy, at the 2006 World Cup. That one ended, somewhat miraculously, at 1-1, thanks to an own goal by the Italians and Italy playing with 10 for the final 62 minutes, after De Rossi was sent off in the 28th minute for elbowing Brian McBride in the face. (Hey, can McBride still play? Can someone go fetch him?) But the Yanks saw Pablo Mastroeni red-carded in the 45th minute and Eddie Pope follow him out of the match, in the 47th minute, for picking up two yellows in the chippy game. Thus, in that one, Italy didn’t have all of halftime to plot ways of winning a 10-on-9 match.
Now, it’s (gulp) Brazil. The U.S. has to get a result out of that match, on Thursday, to hold the slimmest hope of finishing in the top two of the group, and that will be a tall order against the five-time world champions, who scored freely, early, and seemed to will a final goal late, against surprisingly (well, to some) talented and fonfident Egypt, which scored twice early in the second half to forge a 3-3 tie and came within minutes (and a penalty from Kaka) of stealing a point.
Hard to imagine the U.S. scoring enough (or holding off Brazil sufficiently) to manage a tie. Not with no apparent U.S. ability to string together enough passes and get enough players forward who pose a genuine threat to score in the run of play. And not with the back four still something of a mess. Jonathan Bornstein was shaky, at left back, and the debate/search at the position goes on afresh; Carlos Bocanegra is out with a balky hamstring and was missed in the middle; and Frankie Hejduk didn’t even travel to South Africa because he has a bad groin, leaving the harmless Jonathan Spector at right back. The mental picture of Kaka, Pato and Robinho roaming free through the U.S. defense is alarming but probably prescient.
Still, this will be good for the Americans, even if it turns out badly, as it now appears near certain to do. It gives the Yanks a taste of playing the elite, in a tournament setting, which ought to be useful for when the Big Show (the World Cup) goes off in South Africa a year from now and the U.S. is in some group not much less imposing than the one it is in now. It also shows U.S. fans how far the team lags behind the international upper crust and should temper expectations, which sometimes get out of hand when the team qualifies fairly easily out of the underwhelming region known as CONCACAF. El Salvador is one thing; Italy quite another.
To go head-to-head with the Azzurri may never be a fair fight, for a U.S. side, in our lifetimes. For certain, it isn’t in anno Domini 2009, and not with a man sent off with an hour still to play.
5 responses so far ↓
1 bw // Jun 16, 2009 at 4:52 AM
Excellent commentary as always.
On quibble: Clark’s challenge was cardable for sure. Very high, no effort to play the ball. Dramatically played by Gattuso? Sure. But that is why you don’t go in high against a guy like that. The red was a bit harsh, but Clark was the one who left the high leg out there. Stupid.
Any thoughts on why Dempsey looks good with Fulham and like such a flopping mess for the Nats?
2 Nell // Jun 16, 2009 at 5:55 AM
Italy should have been down 2 men by the half: the blatant elbow to Donovan’s head. That’s a red card anywhere in the world. Not to mention the take-down of Jozy in the box- last defender, obvious goal-scoring situation. That’s a red.
And we were denied a PK in the closing minutes when Donovan got squashed. Even the Italian announcers were saying that’s a PK.
I think the US performed admirably (with the exception of Dempsey and Feilhaber; Dempsey especially needs to see the bench for quite some time). I just wish for once we could play them in a meaningful game with a full 11 v. 11 – I think we match up with them very, very well and it wouldn’t be a surprise for the US to win.
As for Rossi – eh. He was born and raised in this country. His father was born and raised in Italy. This isn’t club soccer, where you try to get on the best team you can. This is about playing for YOUR country, not your father’s country. So be gone with you, Giuseppi.
3 Dennis Pope // Jun 16, 2009 at 7:57 AM
Dempsey is pissing me off. He tries to do all this kick-flip, dancing-around-the-ball crap but can’t even make the simple forward pass, instead choosing to place the ball backwards, where Feilhaber was surrounded and certain to lose possession. He definitely needs to see the bench, as Nell pointed out.
And there’s now no one I’d like to see injured more than Rossi. His dual citizenship should be revoked and he should be punched squarely in the face.
4 Doug // Jun 16, 2009 at 11:02 AM
This match definitely left a bad taste in my mouth, made all the more galling by Rossi’s celebration of his goals and then — after the match — saying he dedicated them to his family watching back in the U.S. Show some class man or move everyone back to Italy. As another blogger posted on another site, they don’t have any loyalty to the U.S., they just live here. It also is amusing to read about the Italians bragging about their “character” and how “brilliant” Lippi’s tactics and substitutions were. Character has nothing to do with it. With terrific players at every position and an 11 on 10 advantage for 60 minutes, you should win every time — especially against an underdog. And as far as tactics and subs, what were people expecting Lippi to do, bring on a reserve goalkeeper and center backs and not attacking players? As Paul noted, once Clark stupidly got a red, it was just a matter of how many goals Italy would win by. The U.S. players gave their all but until the U.S. can develop more attacking players we just won’t be able to beat the top nations. On a lighter note, I find the Egyptian team’s appeal of the last minute Brazil PK to be hilarious. I know this is an oversimplification, but basically Egypt is saying, “It’s not fair! You used technoogy and caught us cheating!”
5 Damian // Jun 16, 2009 at 3:58 PM
I thought the U.S. played admirably in the first half, was aggressive as it is capable of being against a team like Italy, and was unjustly penalized for the sending off of Clark. It was a very late and sloppy tackle and warranted a yellow caution, but given it was his first foul of the match (no pattern of repetitive fouls from Clark) and there was no tone of physical, chippy play building up to that point, I’m astonished that the referee could even think to brandish red in that situation. Unless the refs have received their marching orders from Sepp Blatter to take drastic measure in cleaning up bad tackles (much the way David Stern has ordered his refs to take away “playoff basketball” by turning the hard playoff foul into suspension), that is not a red card. Referees have to have a sense for how the match is going when they make yellow vs. red card judgments.
But the U.S. cannot blame being a man down for losing a 1-0 lead. Tactically, the U.S. was dropping back anyway to defend the lead and they had as many people behind the ball as they would have had no one been sent off. Italy is just a better, more skilled team and given the space the U.S. midfield and backline was allowing Italy, they would’ve scored a couple goals anyway.
The U.S. didn’t lose because they were a man down. They lost because, once again, they are not skilled enough to possess the ball and strong enough to hold it from the opposition. And when you cannot possess, you chase the game. And when you chase the game, you tire. Remember Costa Rica a couple weeks ago? How many times did you notice the U.S. just kicking the ball out of their own end with no thought applied (like trying to kill a power play in hockey), unless they were trying to pick out Altidore at midfield with 2 Italian defenders around him. News alert: Altidore is not beating 2 or 3 defenders of Italian quality while trying to receive long passes with his back to goal and no forwards or wingers running up field to provide support or passing options. Many times, they had time to settle the ball in their end and look to transition to building possession forward. This mentality goes back to the lack of technical skill in our players and them not having the speed of mind to think the game, move without the ball, make yourself available to receive passes and play 1- and 2-touch soccer. This is a problem born of not playing consistently against quality of teams that can apply ball pressure and not having solid on-field organization to build and maintain possession.
Bradley and Feilhaber can’t be reliable central and holding midfielders because they play too finesse, too soft. The worst deal about losing Clark to the red card was that was the one holding midfielder who was willing to bring a physical challenge to Italy in the middle of the field. Bradley and Feilhaber lose the ball more often than not when confronted by the opponent and hardly ever go in to challenge anyone on the ball. While Dempsey’s pass to Feilhaber was stupid in that it was a lateral pass in the middle of your half of the field with Italy pressing and did not give Feilhaber a chance to succeed, Feilhaber took 2 touches to try and settle that ball, lost it between his legs and was stripped far too easily of the ball by a guy who’s about 5-4, 150. You have to be stronger on the ball, or play the ball quicker. One or the other. And that play leads to the first goal.
The point is central midfielders cannot continue to lose balls, not put in challenges to win them back, and they must bring a physcial element if they are not able to play fast. How did Italy score the third? Because Bradley went to chase down Pirlo on the sidelines in a half-hearted, flat-footed fashion while taking a bad angle towards him. Never mind the fact Pirlo has his back to goal and running away from goal with the sideline working against him, he still turns on Bradley and pokes the ball by him, setting up his chip to Rossi for the last goal. Bradley has to be tougher and smarter on that challenge. If you run right towards Pirlo, you put in a physical challenge. If you don’t want to get physical, you run to be 2-3 yards off of him between Pirlo and the goal and you force him to play the ball backward. You can’t let someone turn on you that easily at this level and make that initial turn towards the goal, and when that man is Pirlo, one of the top 5 central midfielders in the world, you should expect to get punished.
The second goal, where were the central midfielders to pick DeRossi up? He collects the ball 50 yards from goal in the middle of the field, takes a couple dribbles and shoots with no defender in the frame of the TV all the while. That is terrible defending. Far too much space.
And then there is the constant lack of skill displayed by lumbering Oguchi Onyewu throughout almost every match. Big guy, no ball skills. Never liked him. Twice in 3 or 4 minutes in the 2nd half, he botched clearances from the back with mishits, and minutes later as DeRossi’s shot comes in low, Onyewu inexplicably tries to clear it out with his right foot as the shot is moving by his left foot. You don’t need to be left-footed to be able to stick your left foot out and block the ball, like he could have easily done.
Jay DeMerit looked outmatched and timid in central defense and that experiment should not continue.
Dempsey put in another lazy, anonymous effort. He has been terrible lately and for some reason has lost his aggressive mentality in going forward. He used to want to take people on and try and dribble forward (whether he was successful or not was another matter), but there was a point in last night’s game where he went forward with the ball with no one in support until he was met by a defender 25 yards from the italy goal. Instead of taking the defender on, he stops the ball, turns and passes the ball back 15 yards. The next ball is passed backward and laterally, and nothing came of that possession. That is extremely negative soccer only brought on by a lack of confidence and individual skill.
Landon had a few moments when he looked good going forward and Jozy admirably tussled with the big, physical defenders and drew some fouls, even earned a penalty. But when these guys have no support in attack, what can you do? Landon is always out of the game when he plays up top because his midfield is not strong enough to hold or win the ball consistently and feed him the ball.
This team just has no ideas and organziation with which to go forward against anyone who plays with a mild amount of ball pressure. 1 corner in 90 minutes, near the end. Again, 0 goals in the run of play. Will the U.S. ever score in the run of play again against a non-CONCACAF team? For this, the offensive problems fall on coaching. Bruce Arena was all about defensive organization. Bob Bradley grew up under Arena. He’s nothing more than a Bruce Arena disciple. Enough said.
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