The World Needs More Ninjas

The US played a much better game than they did against the Czechs in a 1-1 draw against Italy this afternoon. And, they received an immense boost from Ghana who pulled the biggest upset thus far in beating the Czechs 2-0. Thus, Group E truly lived up to its billing as a Group of Death. Italy is sitting pretty in terms of advancing, but the other three teams all have a shot now.

The US still left something to be desired as they did get extremely lucky since their only goal was a self-goal by Italy. And, a bad one at that. The Italy defender just whiffed at a ball flying through the air and it hit his calf and rolled in. But, the US strike was much better in this game than it was against the Czechs.

The referee was not good. He just breathed through his whistle for the first 2/3 of the game and then finally let them play for the last 1/3. However, his real effect was felt in the three red cards he handed out which meant that the US was playing 9 on 10 for pretty much the entire second half. Pulling off a draw against one of Europe’s powerhouses in this circumstance is definitely a positive. In fact, they almost won when a Beasley shot went in the goal only to be waived off by a call that McBride obstructed the goal tender.

The first red card, against Italy, was pretty obvious. If you do this to someone with an elbow jab, you’re going to get a red card. The two against the US were much more questionable. First, there was a late slide tackle towards the end of the first half that should have only been a red card. I highly doubt that would have been a red card in your average European match. Then, early in the second half, the ref gave a second red card to Eddie Pope on a slide tackle that was again a bit suspect at that point in the game. This basically killed any chance the US had of a win and the rest of the game was just a battle to hold on to the tie. There was another late yellow card on an Italy player that was barely even a foul.

Now, the US has to hope for a win in its game against Ghana on Thursday (10 am ET on ESPN) and that Italy beats the Czechs in their game on Thursday (10 am ET on ESPN2) in order to advance. Exciting times!