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Winners and Losers: U.S. vs. Italy In Confederations Cup
Goal.com's Noah Davis runs down the latest Confederations Cup match between Italy and the USA. Find out whose stock rose and whose fell for the red, white, and blue.
Jun 15, 2009 8:53:17 PM
By Noah Davis
For the first time in 95 matches, the United States Men's National Team lost after taking a lead into halftime. The Americans, who started the scoring when Landon Donovan converted penalty kick in the 41st minute, played the final hour down a man after Ricardo Clark was shown red for a late challenge on Gennaro Gattuso. Giuseppe Rossi provided the equalizer in the 58th minute with the first of his two goals, a brilliant 25-yard strike, and Daniele De Rossi sealed the U.S.'s fate with another blast from distance 13 minutes later. Final score aside, it was a solid performance from the Stars and Stripes, especially considering their recent results away from home.
Winners
Jozy Altidore
Altidore was the best example of the American's spirit. The lone man up top, the 19-year-old played well beyond his years, repeatedly fighting two Italian defenders for long balls sent in by the American backline. While his distribution could have been better on occasions when he gained position, he was fearless from the get-go. Altidore drew a free kick right outside box in the 8th minute and made a great cutback -- quickly becoming his trademark move -- that forced Giorgio Chiellini to drag him down in the box, leading to Donovan's spot kick. He made mistakes -- the striker should have taken a left-footed shot when he was one-on-one with Gianluigi Buffon instead of trying to slide the ball across to Donovan -- but the teen put in a very solid performance before being replaced by Charlie Davies.
Michael Bradley
The kid was everywhere against the Azzurri. He reads the game brilliantly and has learned to step up as a second defender and strip attackers of the ball when the opportunity presents itself. The best American chance early on came when Bradley won a ball in the midfield, gave it up but continued on his run, and received a pass back from Donovan. While Buffon easily stopped his weak left-footed effort, the 10-second burst perfectly encapsulated the two-way ability of the coach's son. (He also started a second U.S.'s break with another bone-jarring tackle.) The central midfielder showed his shooting prowess, too, ripping good strike in 43rd minute that troubled the Italian keeper with its movement.
Jonathan Spector
In his second game as the U.S.'s starting right back, the West Ham fullback gave another solid effort. He patrolled his side of the pitch with considerable aplomb, shutting down Italian forays and deflecting or completely stopping numerous attempted crosses. Spector also did an excellent job of putting his clears to his teammates, or at least giving them a chance to get on the other end and maintain possession. Along with the rest of the back four, he tired in the dying moments, but his overall play was a net positive for the U.S. side.
Losers
Clint Dempsey
Honestly, it's difficult to find losers on the American side (other than Clark), but I must, so here it goes. While Dempsey had a solid match defending, especially in the air where he won a number of balls, he didn't do enough to get into the attack until the late stages of the game. Too often it seemed as though Altidore and Donovan were alone, with little support. With Spector relatively new to the position, it stands to reason the Dempsey would be tasked with playing in a more defensive position (especially after the red card), but I thought he still could have done more on offense. When he did charge forward, the midfielder was frequently guilty of over-dribbling. He played a tough ball that Benny Failhaber struggled to control, which resulted in Rossi's goal. Not Deuce's best effort.
Jonathan Bornstein
When the Italians went one-on-one at the versatile Chivas USA player, he was up to the task. It was his positioning when the ball was on the far side of the pitch that concerned me. He misjudged a cross in the early going that allowed Mauro Camoranesi a half-chance. Bornstein was also given a yellow card after he was caught too far upfield and was forced to drag the attacker down. (Nicola Legrottaglie almost drove home the resulting free kick after he lost his marker, Spector.) Bornstein wasn't terrible, but better finishing by the Italians could have made his night look much worse.
Referee Pablo Pozo
Is Ricardo Clark's tackle a red card offense? Eh, put a gun to my head and I'll say yes. Should Pozo have sent the American midfielder off? Obviously, it's a judgment call -- and these two teams do have a history of tough play -- but in my eyes, the decision is extremely harsh. More than that, the man in gray was inconsistent. If you're going to give Clark a red, Fabio Grosso also deserves to be in the locker room after his elbow on Donovan. (Instead, the defender only received a yellow.) Also, no cards for Chiellini's blatant drag down on Altidore or Feilhaber's vicious, late tackle on Andrea Pirlo in the late stages of the match? Something seems amiss.
Noah Davis covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.
Check out Goal.com's Confederations Cup page.
For the first time in 95 matches, the United States Men's National Team lost after taking a lead into halftime. The Americans, who started the scoring when Landon Donovan converted penalty kick in the 41st minute, played the final hour down a man after Ricardo Clark was shown red for a late challenge on Gennaro Gattuso. Giuseppe Rossi provided the equalizer in the 58th minute with the first of his two goals, a brilliant 25-yard strike, and Daniele De Rossi sealed the U.S.'s fate with another blast from distance 13 minutes later. Final score aside, it was a solid performance from the Stars and Stripes, especially considering their recent results away from home.
Winners
Jozy Altidore
Altidore was the best example of the American's spirit. The lone man up top, the 19-year-old played well beyond his years, repeatedly fighting two Italian defenders for long balls sent in by the American backline. While his distribution could have been better on occasions when he gained position, he was fearless from the get-go. Altidore drew a free kick right outside box in the 8th minute and made a great cutback -- quickly becoming his trademark move -- that forced Giorgio Chiellini to drag him down in the box, leading to Donovan's spot kick. He made mistakes -- the striker should have taken a left-footed shot when he was one-on-one with Gianluigi Buffon instead of trying to slide the ball across to Donovan -- but the teen put in a very solid performance before being replaced by Charlie Davies.
Michael Bradley
The kid was everywhere against the Azzurri. He reads the game brilliantly and has learned to step up as a second defender and strip attackers of the ball when the opportunity presents itself. The best American chance early on came when Bradley won a ball in the midfield, gave it up but continued on his run, and received a pass back from Donovan. While Buffon easily stopped his weak left-footed effort, the 10-second burst perfectly encapsulated the two-way ability of the coach's son. (He also started a second U.S.'s break with another bone-jarring tackle.) The central midfielder showed his shooting prowess, too, ripping good strike in 43rd minute that troubled the Italian keeper with its movement.
Jonathan Spector
In his second game as the U.S.'s starting right back, the West Ham fullback gave another solid effort. He patrolled his side of the pitch with considerable aplomb, shutting down Italian forays and deflecting or completely stopping numerous attempted crosses. Spector also did an excellent job of putting his clears to his teammates, or at least giving them a chance to get on the other end and maintain possession. Along with the rest of the back four, he tired in the dying moments, but his overall play was a net positive for the U.S. side.
Losers
Clint Dempsey
Honestly, it's difficult to find losers on the American side (other than Clark), but I must, so here it goes. While Dempsey had a solid match defending, especially in the air where he won a number of balls, he didn't do enough to get into the attack until the late stages of the game. Too often it seemed as though Altidore and Donovan were alone, with little support. With Spector relatively new to the position, it stands to reason the Dempsey would be tasked with playing in a more defensive position (especially after the red card), but I thought he still could have done more on offense. When he did charge forward, the midfielder was frequently guilty of over-dribbling. He played a tough ball that Benny Failhaber struggled to control, which resulted in Rossi's goal. Not Deuce's best effort.
Jonathan Bornstein
When the Italians went one-on-one at the versatile Chivas USA player, he was up to the task. It was his positioning when the ball was on the far side of the pitch that concerned me. He misjudged a cross in the early going that allowed Mauro Camoranesi a half-chance. Bornstein was also given a yellow card after he was caught too far upfield and was forced to drag the attacker down. (Nicola Legrottaglie almost drove home the resulting free kick after he lost his marker, Spector.) Bornstein wasn't terrible, but better finishing by the Italians could have made his night look much worse.
Referee Pablo Pozo
Is Ricardo Clark's tackle a red card offense? Eh, put a gun to my head and I'll say yes. Should Pozo have sent the American midfielder off? Obviously, it's a judgment call -- and these two teams do have a history of tough play -- but in my eyes, the decision is extremely harsh. More than that, the man in gray was inconsistent. If you're going to give Clark a red, Fabio Grosso also deserves to be in the locker room after his elbow on Donovan. (Instead, the defender only received a yellow.) Also, no cards for Chiellini's blatant drag down on Altidore or Feilhaber's vicious, late tackle on Andrea Pirlo in the late stages of the match? Something seems amiss.
Noah Davis covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.
Check out Goal.com's Confederations Cup page.
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