Nine-man USA hold Italy
Nine-man USA hold Italy
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Saturday, 17, Jun 2006 10:21
The USA held Italy to a 1-1 draw in a remarkable action-packed match that yielded two goals and three red cards.
Italy had a chance to extend their lead in group E by three points after Ghana beat the Czech Republic in the 17:00 BST kick-off, but stumbled against a determined USA side reduced to nine men soon after the interval.
The USA made a bright start, with captain Claudio Reyna, Landon Donavon and Clint Dempsey making the Italian defence work hard.
Despite a promising opening 20 minutes, Bruce Arena's team conceded a free kick in dangerous territory, which Andrea Pirlo whipped in from the right for the unmarked Alberto Gilardino to head home.
The high tempo failed to relent as the USA continued to push forward and the pressure brought an equaliser just five minutes later, again from a set play.
In space, right-back Christian Zaccardo swung wildly at the ball at the far post and somehow miscued Bobby Convey's free kick into his own net to level the scores.
Barely a minute on, the plot thickened as Daniele De Rossi aggressively elbowed forward Brian McBride in the face and deservedly received a straight red.
Looking ragged, the Italians were forced to thrown on midfield workhorse Gennaro Gattuso, in place of Francesco Totti, and his first contribution was to power a shot past Kasey Keller, before noticing the offside flag.
Minutes before half time, a cynical two-footed lunge which met Pirlo's ankle led to American defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni receiving his marching orders, leaving only twenty players on the pitch.
The drama continued after the break as USA defender Eddie Pope received a second yellow for a poor challenge on Gilardino, reducing Arena's team to nine men.
Attempting to capitalise on the numerical advantage, Marcello Lippi threw on Alessandro Del Piero for Zaccardo and, soon afterwards, the nippy Vincenzo Iaquinta for top Serie A goalscorer Luca Toni.
In response, Dempsey made way for DaMarcus Beasley, who made an instant impact with a low drive which beat Gianluca Buffon, only for it to be disallowed because McBride had drifted offside.
Looking to get the winning goal, Italy found it hard to beat the USA offside trap and were thwarted by several excellent saves by Keller and the Americans often having eight outfield players behind the ball.
With all the space in centre of the park, Donavon and Beasley made a series of darting forward runs but failed to cause an upset.
Dominating the final exchanges, Italy were made to rue a series of good chances as the stubborn USA defence held out for a dramatic draw.