Tied to the Card

I'm not really sure what to make of the United States' 1-1 tie to Italy today in the World Cup. On the one hand, the US played their hearts off to get a tie, considering they were a man down throughout the second half. On the other hand, the terrible red card call on Pablo Mastroeni killed the US' momentum. Had that play never occured, I bet the US would have broken through for the victory. Then again, as Pounding the Rock notes, Italy had a goal disallowed due to a phantom offsides call. But then again, the US also had a goal disallowed and should not have lost Eddie Pope to two borderline yellow cards.

I don't really know much about soccer, but the referee was absolutely awful. Learning that he had been suspended in 2002 for "irregularities" and was still allowed to referee a key World Cup game made me even angrier. As The Mighty MJD said on Deadspin, "Jorge Larrionda has made me finally able to comprehend what drives people to hooliganism."

My impression has always been that a referee should only pull out the red card if it is absolutely warranted. The first red card on the Italian player who elbowed Brian McBride seemed to be warranted to me, and I don't think Italy has much of a case against the referee there. But the call on Mastroeni was ridiculous. Admittedly, I'm biased, but that looked like a run-of-the-mill foul. I don't even think that merited a yellow card. Throwing out Mastroeni on a play like that completely changes the complexion of the game.

And it's not like Mastroeni had played dirty the whole game. I can only remember him committing one foul prior to the red card. The only guy who seemed to be committing consistent fouls was Oguchi Onyewu, but he hadn't done anything in a while. Clearly, the referee screwed that up.

The other thing that jumped out at me was that the US missed a golden opportunity later. I've always liked Bruce Arena since he was the old DC United coach, but he made a really bad mistake when he didn't use his last substitute. Both teams were sucking wind near the end, and Italy had used all their substitutes too early in the game. Bruce smartly substituted DeMarcus Beasley in for Clint Mathis, but the US really could have used even more of an offensive spark. Eddie Johnson, the best goal-scorer the US has, was sitting there on the bench. I could not believe that Arena didn't put him in for Brian McBride or Claudio Reyna when both were sucking wind. Johnson and Beasley could have been lethal on the counter-attack with the fresh legs. By not making this substitute, Arena really hurt the American's chances.

In the end, despite the referee's best efforts to screw the US up, they still came away with a valiant tie. It was as if it was a completely different set of players out there. They were attacking the vaunted Italian defense and dominating in the midfield. Landon Donovan, Bobby Convey, and especially Clint Mathis really shined in this game. They not only enabled the US to control possession until they went a man down, but they also created great scoring chances. Unfortunately, the defense was not up to the task during the same period, as Pope had a terrible game with 2 yellow cards and poor coverage on Italy's goal. The US caught a huge break to get the own goal, but good breaks happen to teams that are controlling play.

For all that the midfielders and, in the second half, the defense did, the clear star was Kasey Keller. We've seen a number of great goaltending performances in the World Cup, but Keller's second half has to rank right up there. He made sparking save after sparkling save. The one diving save on Del Piero off the chipped ball may be the save of the year. And while the US defense was solid in the second half, the US has Keller to thank for the tie. There should be no doubt now as to his status as one of the best goalies in the world.

In the end, this tie only gives the US hope for advancing. They still need to beat a Ghana team that thoroughly outplayed the Czechs today. Then, they need Italy to defeat the aformentioned Czechs for the right to play Brazil. It's certainly doable, but it won't be easy. But for US soccer to truely arrive, they have to get the job done and root for the Italians. The only thing I know is that I'll be there Thursday cheering them on.