More World Cup

The US tied Italy today 1-1 in our second match of this World Cup.

It was an exciting but frustrating game--the referee threw out three players. One of the red cards (given to Italian player De Rossi) was deserved; the two given to American players were suspect.* I prefer games where the players are more important than the refs, but this was still a nail-biter.

The US played really well today, especially for being two men down for most of the match. Our players controlled much of the action until the card-fest started, and they played disciplined, tough soccer as the exhaustion crept in seventy, eighty minutes into the game. I suspect the team would have won if the ref had let it keep its players on the field.

Ghana beat the Czech Republic today, which makes the US's group really complicated. The Italians have 4 points, the Czechs and Ghaneans have 3, and we have 1. There's no guarantee that if we win our next (and final) group game we'll make it to the elimination round, but there's a real chance.

NEXT GAME: Thu., June 22, 10 a.m. EST (ESPN).

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* My evaluation of the red cards isn't just me being jingoistic. The BBC said this: "De Rossi disgraced himself with a sickening, needless elbow on Brian McBride and was given his marching orders. It was the undoubted low point of a World Cup that has tried so hard to entertain."