Rossi's Two Goals Sink United States

2009-06-17T03:29:38-04:00

2009-06-15T16:31:06-04:00

199

2009-06-15T16:31:06-04:00

2009-06-17T03:29:38-04:00

javi almeria

No City 783484

199 Take it easy, it is only the first match and you have lost playing 10 men against Italy. I doubt any national team would have beaten or tied Italy with ten men. So take it easy, football/soccer is like this and there is always another match. I watched the match in a bar and I thought the USA did not play bad, if you had been a bit luckier perhaps a tie with one man down would have been possible... . Italy hardly ever plays well, they can play with all their team in the box all match long and suddenly......., they beat you! That is the way it is, then one of their players elbows you in the face! Always the same :-) . 5771163

2009-06-15T17:23:27-04:00

fdgiza

Washington 794748

27 Hi there, everyone here in Italy is saying how well Onyewu played tonight. He completely annihilated Gilardino in the first half and defended awesomely on Iaquinta and Toni. He reminded me of Cannavaro in Germany 2006 world cup 5752433

2009-06-16T19:57:23-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/441/613/thumb/gianluigi-buffon.jpg 23 IT

Peppe il portiere

Caserta 442053

Hi there,everyone here in Italy is saying how well Onyewu played tonight. He completely annihilated Gilardino in the first half and defended awesomely on Iaquinta and Toni. He reminded me of Cannavaro in Germany 2006 world cup

198 ... except for his lack of technical skills :-P Still, I was impressed by his physical supremacy, which let him stop both Gilardino and the strong Iaquinta. 5769290

2009-06-16T18:50:07-04:00

Daykin

Madison 795170

197 The commentary of Harkes/Dellacamera was just horrible. There was no analysis and nothing useful for anyone who has watched more than one soccer game in their life. It is too much to ask for decent commentary for the Confed Cup? 5768884

2009-06-16T18:48:27-04:00

Daykin

Madison 795170

196 The commentary by Harkes/Dellacamera was just horrible. There was no analysis, and nothing useful for anyone who has watched more than a couple of soccer games in their life. Can we please get at least adequate commentary for the Confed Cup? 5768879

2009-06-16T07:27:35-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/353/210/thumb/pato1.jpg 1946 NV

dynamo818

Las Vegas 353630

The Rossi family should be expelled from this country....NJ should be embarrassed

185 Once again, there is a small, very vocal and clearly misguided minority of football fans who don't understand the politics of the game in Europe. If you want to be on the big stage and have the aspiration of playing top flight football in Italy - as Rossi has (given that he joined the Parma youth system at 13) - it's probably not very wise to turn down a guy like Marcelo Lippi with his deep and lasting connections to Juventus. But if you think that Rossi playing for the US yesterday would have changed the outcome, you don't know a thing about the game itself either. Teams like Italy, Spain and Brazil can field THREE teams from their embarrassment of riches that could defeat a mid-tier footballing federation like the US whose best athletes play other sports. The US had no answer for Pirlo or Grosso yesterday and couldn't test the Buffon without a penalty kick. Say what you want about the Italians and their tactics, but they don't question their coach and they know how to execute a gameplan. You should be embarrassed for not recognizing any of these things choosing instead to go the Immigration and Naturalization route for solving all the US problems with this sport ... and they are too numerous to list here right now. Rossi is perhaps a lightning rod for some, but he should be a giant wake up call. That would be the sensible thing to do. 5756009

2009-06-16T18:27:51-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/777/450/thumb/preston.gif 211 CA

89invincible

Vallejo 778110

But if you think that Rossi playing for the US yesterday would have changed the outcome, you don't know a thing about the game itself either. Teams like Italy, Spain and Brazil can field THREE teams from their embarrassment of riches that could defeat a mid-tier footballing federation like the US whose best athletes play other sports.

195 I have to disagree on two points. First, Rossi would perfectly fill the striker/finisher role that we desperately lack. Second, if you saw Italy play New Zealand, I don't think you can say that Italy could field 3 teams to defeat the US. Maybe 2, if you figure that the team that played the friendly against New Zealand is their C-team, and their B-squad is in the European U21 tournament. There is no way that even the depleted US squad loses to the team that played the kiwis. 5768682

2009-06-16T16:38:10-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/791/667/thumb/flag_-_italian_american.jpg 20 NY

Mikeygoodlife

Staten Island 792327

194 This kid can play for Italia. As the saying goes..."blood is thicker than water." He made the right decision and realized his dream. Also, The US will have another opportunity to find players. Look how much better we are since Italia 1990. It will take time. 5766950

2009-06-15T17:15:42-04:00

rmhtarheel

Durham 794727

20 Clear red card, IMO, Clark has a rep for dirty play and that was clearly a deliberate late, high kick. Most frustrating thing for me was the wasted scoring opps before the sending off. Altidore has to shoot in that situation, not look for Donovan. 5752312

2009-06-16T14:31:52-04:00

Hayden STX

Seffner 457183

Clear red card, IMO, Clark has a rep for dirty play and that was clearly a deliberate late, high kick. Most frustrating thing for me was the wasted scoring opps before the sending off. Altidore has to shoot in that situation, not look for Donovan.

193 And what football do you watch. So should Gatuso's foul on the US defender in the second half also be a red. It was late. It was at the knees. No. On a first foul that should never be a automatic without any discussion from officials with a better view. Was it a foul, yes. Was it worthy of a card yes. But the color was wrong and if you make that kind of call that early you have to do it during the entire game which he didn't. The penalty should have been a red for being the last defender and the swing of the arm at Landon's face should have been taken care of as well. I do agree about the chances. Can't expect to have a result on Thursday with people second guessing their shots. Should have bee 3-0 at the half. But that's football. 5764182

2009-06-15T23:02:10-04:00

hntdhs

Oakland 52771

And yes the US was second-best in the 2nd half, but I expected that considering their playing 10 v 11.

175 Sure that had in effect, but a match that is heavily influenced by a sending off hardly ever looks that lopsided. And when it does, the guy who was sent off isn't a Ricardo Clark. And I'm sorry, but if you want to play the "we should've been up such-and-such" using instances where a goal could have been scored as if a goal really was scored, we were absolutely murdered. 5754963

2009-06-16T12:23:53-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/222/078/thumb/tribute_to_charlie_davies2-fannation.jpg 1049 GA

Manchester United-CR7=13-2-2

Atlanta 222378

Sure that had in effect, but a match that is heavily influenced by a sending off hardly ever looks that lopsided. And when it does, the guy who was sent off isn't a Ricardo Clark. And I'm sorry, but if you want to play the "we should've been up such-and-such" using instances where a goal could have been scored as if a goal really was scored, we were absolutely murdered.

192 And the only point I was trying to make was that the US could have easily been up 3-0 at halftime...and I won't vary from that stance because it's absolutely ture. 5761092

2009-06-15T23:02:10-04:00

hntdhs

Oakland 52771

And yes the US was second-best in the 2nd half, but I expected that considering their playing 10 v 11.

2009-06-16T12:19:28-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/222/078/thumb/tribute_to_charlie_davies2-fannation.jpg 1049 GA

Manchester United-CR7=13-2-2

Atlanta 222378

191 I don't get why everybody thinks that Italy domniated us. The US got tired, especially after the 60th minute, and Lippi made some good subs, but I still hold firm the US represent themselves well. Tell me what other team could have beaten Italy being down a man for 75 minutes, Brazil, England, Spain?...well I got news for you as much as US fans seem to think we should be, we aren't any of those countries...we only being playing soccer for 20 years at an international level, not 100. 5761026

2009-06-16T11:41:24-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/738/629/thumb/james.bmp 79 NY

The Reverend Cleophus James

Hells Kitchen 739289

190 ... and I would like to see FIFA put an end to the diving and embellishment. You want to lay on the ground acting like bleeding **** so the guy gets a yellow card? Fine. You have to leave the pitch for 5 minutes to recover from the trauma. You leave on a stretcher? You're done! 5759990

199

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/06/15/us.italy.ap/giuseppi-rossi.jpg" alt="Double Click to select a Photo" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">New Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi (17) netted twice for Italy. AP</div> </div> PRETORIA, South Africa -- Three quick thoughts after Italy's come-from-behind 3-1 victory (<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/06/15/us.italy.ap/index.html">RECAP</a>) against the U.S. in the Confederations Cup: • How long will Giuseppe Rossi torment the United States? First Rossi, a 22-year-old Clifton, N.J., native, crushed U.S. fans by choosing to play for Italy instead of the Americans. Then Monday it was -- who else? -- Rossi, whose two goals sparked Italy's second-half comeback. Rossi didn't even start the game, but he was a menace on the right side and in the middle during the second half. Look out, folks: This kid has the makings of the best U.S.-born forward ever. Too bad he's playing for the Azzurri. • Ricardo Clark's controversial red card changed the game. It was no coincidence that both of Italy's goals came on long blasts from the center of the field with no U.S. players pressuring the shooters. There's no way Clark would have left that much space if he had been on the field. Chilean ref Pablo Pozo sent off Clark late in the first half for a late challenge on Gennaro Gattuso, a call that reminded me a lot of Pablo Mastroeni's straight red against Italy in the 2006 World Cup. Like Mastroeni's red card, the call on Clark seemed harsh at first, but as replays showed, you can't follow through like that and give the referee a reason to send you off. • A gallant loss is still a loss. Give the 10-man U.S. a ton of credit for refusing to give up after Clark's red card and even taking a 1-0 lead into halftime on Landon Donovan's spot kick (after Jozy Altidore had earned a penalty). As we learned in '06, the U.S. has a way of frustrating the Italians, clogging up the midfield and using its athleticism and strength to make life difficult. But it was a tall order for the Yanks to keep that up for 90 minutes while down a man, and the dam broke in the second half. Still, there are no moral victories in soccer, and now the U.S. finds itself with zero points, a minus-2 goal differential and a suspended Clark for Thursday's game against Brazil. Look for José Francisco Torres to start against the Brazilians. What are your thoughts on the game? Check back in a bit for post-game reaction from the teams.... Grant Wahl's new book, The Beckham Experiment, comes out on July 14. You can pre-order it <a href="http://tinyurl.com/layry6" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also find him now on <a href="http://twitter.com/GrantWahl" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 67541 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615