2009 Confederations Cup: Italy, Rossi Sink United States 3-1
June 18th 2009 04:13
Trapped in the weak CONCACAF region, the United States Men's National Team (or USMNT) have always looked to bigger stages such as the Confederations Cup and the World to see how they fare against soccer powerhouses. This year, they were drawn into a relatively difficult group with world champions Italy, traditional powerhouse Brazil, and African Cup of Nations champions Egypt.
On Monday, the US faced their old foe, Italy, in a rematch of the 2006 World Cup game which ended on a 1-1 draw. This time around, it was the United States who would score first as Landon Donovan coolly converted a penalty kick five minutes before half-time. The goal gave some breathing room to the USMNT who were reduced to ten men around the half-hour mark after midfielder Ricardo Clark committed a dangerous tackle on Gennaro Gattuso. It was Clark's first foul of the game but the lateness of the tackle combined with its height (his leg clipped Gattuso at the knee) gave the referee no choice.
Down to ten men, the US had to do everything in their power to keep that goal lead intact for as long as they could. A 1-1 draw would also be an acceptable result considering the circumstances. In the first half, the Americans had done of superb job of neutralizing Italy's strikers, but fatigue slowly started to set in as the second half went on, and this is where the tactical abilities of both coaches decided the game's final outcome.
Marcello Lippi bid his time to make some changes and five hour after the hour-mark, he went with a double substitution putting in a fourth striker (Giuseppe Rossi) and a attacking midfielder (Riccardo Montolivo) in place of his defensive/aging midfielders (Gattuso and Camoranesi). The change had an immediate impact. The New Jersey-born Rossi had been on the field for only two minutes when he brought devastation to the US side with a lethal left-footed strike that left no chance to Tim Howard.
Bob Bradley's response to Rossi's goal was to substitute Jozy Altidore for another striker. The decision made no sense for me as I couldn't understand why he wouldn't plug the gaping hole in midfield left by Clark's expulsion and the fact that Italy were now fully in attack-mode. If he absolutely needed a striker, why not leave Donovan alone in front and put a midfielder in Altidore's place. Donovan has the pace and the technical ability to run with the ball and keep it in Italy's end long enough for the rest of his team to re-organize itself and get ready for another attack. As it was, Davies (Altidore's replacement) was a waste of fresh legs that could've been used in the midfield.
Surely enough, the Italians took advantage of the space in midfield as Daniele De Rossi fired a wonder strike from outside the box that bounced just in front of Howard to finish its course in the small netting of his far post. Rossi added insult to injury in stoppage time by scoring his second of game on a superb pass from Andrea Pirlo.
In the end, the red card had a huge impact on the game as red cards always do, but the US has to look back at their missed opportunities in the first half to explain their defeat that day. Imagine having the USMNT leading 3-0 over Italy at half-time, now wouldn't that be something? Instead, it's on to Brazil as they'll face their second biggest test of the tournament. As for Rossi, US fans are left to wonder what might have been. It might be best to move on as the young striker seems to have found his place in Europe.
Italy's line-up: Gianluigi Buffon; Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Grosso; Mauro Camoranesi (Riccardo Montolivo, 57th), Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso (Giuseppe Rossi, 56th), Daniele De Rossi; Alberto Gilardino (Luca Toni, 69th), Vincenzo Iaquinta.
United States' line-up: Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Bornstein (Sacha Kljestan, 86th); Benny Feilhaber (DaMarcus Beasley, 72nd), Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore (Charlie Davies, 66th), Landon Donovan.
On Monday, the US faced their old foe, Italy, in a rematch of the 2006 World Cup game which ended on a 1-1 draw. This time around, it was the United States who would score first as Landon Donovan coolly converted a penalty kick five minutes before half-time. The goal gave some breathing room to the USMNT who were reduced to ten men around the half-hour mark after midfielder Ricardo Clark committed a dangerous tackle on Gennaro Gattuso. It was Clark's first foul of the game but the lateness of the tackle combined with its height (his leg clipped Gattuso at the knee) gave the referee no choice.
Down to ten men, the US had to do everything in their power to keep that goal lead intact for as long as they could. A 1-1 draw would also be an acceptable result considering the circumstances. In the first half, the Americans had done of superb job of neutralizing Italy's strikers, but fatigue slowly started to set in as the second half went on, and this is where the tactical abilities of both coaches decided the game's final outcome.
Marcello Lippi bid his time to make some changes and five hour after the hour-mark, he went with a double substitution putting in a fourth striker (Giuseppe Rossi) and a attacking midfielder (Riccardo Montolivo) in place of his defensive/aging midfielders (Gattuso and Camoranesi). The change had an immediate impact. The New Jersey-born Rossi had been on the field for only two minutes when he brought devastation to the US side with a lethal left-footed strike that left no chance to Tim Howard.
Bob Bradley's response to Rossi's goal was to substitute Jozy Altidore for another striker. The decision made no sense for me as I couldn't understand why he wouldn't plug the gaping hole in midfield left by Clark's expulsion and the fact that Italy were now fully in attack-mode. If he absolutely needed a striker, why not leave Donovan alone in front and put a midfielder in Altidore's place. Donovan has the pace and the technical ability to run with the ball and keep it in Italy's end long enough for the rest of his team to re-organize itself and get ready for another attack. As it was, Davies (Altidore's replacement) was a waste of fresh legs that could've been used in the midfield.
Surely enough, the Italians took advantage of the space in midfield as Daniele De Rossi fired a wonder strike from outside the box that bounced just in front of Howard to finish its course in the small netting of his far post. Rossi added insult to injury in stoppage time by scoring his second of game on a superb pass from Andrea Pirlo.
In the end, the red card had a huge impact on the game as red cards always do, but the US has to look back at their missed opportunities in the first half to explain their defeat that day. Imagine having the USMNT leading 3-0 over Italy at half-time, now wouldn't that be something? Instead, it's on to Brazil as they'll face their second biggest test of the tournament. As for Rossi, US fans are left to wonder what might have been. It might be best to move on as the young striker seems to have found his place in Europe.
Italy's line-up: Gianluigi Buffon; Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Grosso; Mauro Camoranesi (Riccardo Montolivo, 57th), Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso (Giuseppe Rossi, 56th), Daniele De Rossi; Alberto Gilardino (Luca Toni, 69th), Vincenzo Iaquinta.
United States' line-up: Tim Howard; Jonathan Spector, Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, Jonathan Bornstein (Sacha Kljestan, 86th); Benny Feilhaber (DaMarcus Beasley, 72nd), Ricardo Clark, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey; Jozy Altidore (Charlie Davies, 66th), Landon Donovan.
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