Italy 1 - USA 1 Intense game to watch, but disappointing in the end. Truly a weird and strange game. Not because one team maybe had deserved a win. In my opinion, neither deserved it and a tie is the 'fair' result. It's just that it was a dirty game to watch. Intense, emotional, lots of controversial calls by the ref, rough play, yeah all that. In spades. But… very little football, which is what we're here to watch. It wasn't Italy's best game or performance. Not by a very, very long shot. Still managed to rescue a point (yes, I just said Italy managed to rescue a point against the USA). Not because the US dominated. Hardly. They sucked just as the Italians did. It wasn't a pretty game. But the Italians rescued a point, I say, because Italy has to be Italy, and they really don't mind that. Italy comes into this group knowing it'll be very difficult for them not to make it to the second round. Everyone knows it. So what's the point in suffering? What gives if you get a tie instead of a win? You're frickin' Italy, and you'll still make it, and you'll play well when it counts. Otherwise, when you get back home the fans and the press will eat you raw. So getting a tie in any of their 3 games was a possibility that was contemplated by Signore Lippi, I'm sure. So no big deal. They know that when they're playing well, they can easily beat any of their groupmates. No big whoop, let's move on. The US, however, was the one with the pressure on them. Losing against Italy would've left them virtually out of the cup. So what do you do? Well, you don't whimper in the face of adversity. You lost the first game, you were rightfully routed, yes, but that's that and that's history. For your second game, it's critical that you go out and try to get the result, no matter the cost. Well, I'lll give the US that. They tried. Even when playing with 9, they did what they could. That doesn't make the fact of the US being a limited team magically disappear. So, good marks to the US for trying, but the truth may lie somewhere around another fact; that the US doesn't really have much to try with. The ref was a little card-happy, but in my opinion all the really controversial calls were correct. Those were all clear fouls (although he missed a clear-as-crystal PK in Italy's favor at the end). The send offs were correct. It was a weird, intense and fought over game. Tooth and nail from both sides. Man of the Match: None really shone. I can't honestly give it to anyone. If I had to pick one, I'd say Kasey Keller (USA), for a couple of critical saves during the second half to deny Italy. Have you noticed how many MoM's I have given to keepers so far? The good: An intense game, with several moments of back-and-forth play The bad: Unnecessarily rough at times. Some challenges were nasty. Not good refereeing overall, but he did get the nasty calls right. ******************************************************************* As far as FIFA is concerned. They don't want players ‘lunging’ in this WC. The message from FIFA was clear — to the refs, at least: Lunging, if there’s a foul contact, is punishable by yellow or red, depending. That’s the new recommendation for this cup. It’s gotta be a really, really timed and skilled tackle… you know the kind. Those that come from the side and just sweep the ball away with the thigh or shin, without any dangerous contact whatsoever, and the receiver of the foul only falling because of physics. That's the kind the refs will let pass. The clean tackles. Tackles from behind, going one/two footed with the stubs up, or even lunged tackles from the side… all those that we’re so used to, they can be punished now. And if the ref is strict and wants to apply this new recommendation, they can and will. http://glimpse.wordpress.com/2006/06/18/wc-day-9-reporter-mia/