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Intrigue in World Cup Group E is growing - on Saturday in tense and fluctuating matches, where the referee showed three red cards, the Italian national team played a draw with the USA and earned their fourth point to become the group leader.
Kaiserslautern's Fritz-Walter-Stadion, 46,000 spectators Referee - Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) Italy 1 - 1 USA 22' [1 - 0] Alberto Gilardino 27' [1 - 1] Cristian Zaccardo 28' Daniele De Rossi (Italy), 45' Pablo Mastroeni, 47' Eddie Pope (both USA) sent off Italy: Buffon; Zaccardo, Nesta, Cannavaro, Zambrotta; Perrotta, Pirlo, De Rossi, Totti; Toni, Gilardino. USA: Keller; Cherundolo, Onyewu, Pope, Bocanegra; Dempsey, Mastroeni, Reyna, Convey; McBride, Donovan. The teams started the match quite actively, and the first opportunity to score came in the second minute when Italian Luca Toni had a chance, but his header flew over the goal. A few minutes later, the Americans responded with dangerous attacks, but lacked accuracy in crucial moments. In the 13th minute, L. Toni missed another header, and the US national team responded with dangerous shots from Bobby Convey and Pablo Mastroeni - both shots flew over the goal. Despite more dangerous attacks and initiative from the Americans, the first goal fell to their opponents - Andrea Pirlo delivered the ball from the wing and striker Alberto Gilardino, left completely unmarked, headed it into Kasey Keller's goal from a few meters away. However, the Italians' advantage was short-lived, as defender Cristian Zaccardo, seemingly in a harmless situation, redirected the ball into his own goal after a cross, leveling the score. Shortly after, Marcello Lippi's players suffered another blow - defender Daniele De Rossi was sent off for an elbow to the face of his opponent during a fair attack. After these events, the game calmed down, although the US players attacked more actively and frequently. In the final minute of the first half, the referee intervened again, removing American P. Mastroeni from the field in a contentious episode where he clearly delayed the match against A. Pirlo and violently tackled his opponent with a straight leg. Just a few meters from the incident, Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda did not hesitate to show the second red card of the match, evening the player count on the field, and moments later, announced the end of a nervous first half. At the beginning of the second half, the US national team was left with nine players on the field - for a second yellow card, after a rough foul on A. Gilardino, defender Eddie Pope was sent off. Even with only nine men, the Americans fought valiantly, but creating opportunities against the Italians, who played rather passively for a long time, became increasingly difficult. In the 53rd minute, a second own goal was narrowly avoided when defender Carlos Bocanegra's attempt to clear the ball with his head ricocheted off the crossbar of K. Keller's goal. Ten minutes later, the US team created a chance near the opponent's goal, but after Landon Donovan's pass, Brian McBride's shot was slightly off target. Another moment of drama occurred in the 65th minute when substitute DaMarcus Beasley sent the ball into Gianluigi Buffon's goal from the left edge of the penalty area, but the referee disallowed the goal as B. McBride, standing directly in front of the goalkeeper, obstructed his view and clearly interfered from an offside position. All protests by the Americans in this episode were futile, as this situation is clearly regulated by FIFA rules, and B. McBride's offside position was certainly not passive. As the match neared its end, the Italians attacked more and more, but despite their possession advantage, they could not convert their gameplay into goals. The Americans held on for a draw, maintaining their hopes of advancing to the next stage. Meanwhile, the Italians missed a good opportunity to secure a relatively calm life in the final round and now, having suffered a setback in the match against the Czech Republic, they may end their campaign in the first stage.
Statistics Italy - USA Ball possession 54% - 46% Shots 10 - 7 Shots on goal 3 - 0 Corners 7 - 3 Fouls 13 - 24 Offsides 11 - 1 Yellow cards 2 - 1 Red cards 1 - 2 Errors 42 - 47 Recovered balls 38 - 25 Long passes 42 - 36 Short passes 321 - 198
