From the Times

True Grit: U.S. Withstands Ejections and Italy to Stay Alive

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany, June 17 — When this strange and exhausting and potentially rewarding game had ended in a 1-1 tie with Italy, the United States playmaker Landon Donovan fell onto his back, seemingly unable to take another step.

Several teammates bent over, drenched in sweat, drained of energy and emotion. Victory had not been achieved Saturday, but as important, defeat had been avoided.

In a classic underdog effort, the United States kept its hopes alive in the World Cup with a redeeming and defiant performance against a three-time winner of the tournament. The Americans played the final 43 minutes with only nine players, two having been disqualified for committing harsh fouls.

Italy put a ball into its own goal and also had a starter ejected for a viciously thrown elbow. But the Italians still played with a man advantage throughout most of the second half. Yet the Americans would not yield with a withered lineup.

"This was a total team effort," United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "Those guys bled today for our country and our team."

That would include Keller, who made two diving saves in the final 20 minutes to preserve the tie.

"This reflected who we are as a national team," said Sunil Gulati, president of the United States Soccer Federation. "A lot of heart, a lot of fight and trying to play as well, not just fighting hard."

And now, after Ghana upset the Czech Republic earlier, 2-0, the United States has suddenly bettered its position to advance beyond group play of the 32-team tournament. The Americans (0-1-1) will reach the Round of 16 if they defeat Ghana (1-1) on Thursday and if Italy (1-0-1) defeats the Czech Republic (1-1).

If the United States advances, its likely reward would be a second-round match against the five-time champion Brazil. At this point, the Americans would be more than happy to move on after a lifeless opening defeat to the Czechs, 3-0.

In that match, the United States appeared to play in a confused and aimless state while being humiliated. On Saturday, the Americans were vibrant and cohesive and, finally, impenetrable, when Italy held the advantage in players but not in gritty resolve.

Against the Czechs, the Americans merely had players running around the field. On Saturday, they coalesced into a team and forged a tie in archetypal style, with competitive spirit, fitness and togetherness.

"Our guys played with a lot of heart and certainly redeemed ourselves from Day 1," said Manager Bruce Arena, who had harshly criticized some of his players after that loss.

The United States opened Saturday's match in a defensive posture, intending to counterattack against the Italians. But plans began to change in the 22nd minute, when midfielder Pablo Mastroeni brought down Francesco Totti, Italy's playmaker. The Italians were awarded a free kick from 26 yards. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo drove the ball low, and forward Alberto Gilardino ran past defender Eddie Pope, slamming the ball into the net with a diving header.

Usually, there is no better team at protecting a 1-0 lead than Italy. Its classic defensive posture is known as catenaccio, or door bolt. Once that door is shut, most often it remains locked. Not in this match, which quickly grew rough and eccentric.

In the 27th minute, midfielder Bobby Convey took a free kick from the right flank for the United States, and Italy defender Cristian Zaccardo tried to clear it with a volley. Perhaps he grew distracted by forward Brian McBride lurking behind him, but Zaccardo badly mis-hit the ball with his left ankle. It corkscrewed into the Italian goal, stunningly tying the score, 1-1.

"A goal is a goal," Convey said. "It kept us in the World Cup. We deserved it. We took it to them."

Reeling, Italy lost its composure. In the 28th minute, the ball bounced high in the American half of the field and, as he chased it, the Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi threw a wicked elbow into McBride's left cheek. Blood streamed from McBride's face — the cut later required three stitches — as the referee, Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay, pulled out a red card.

Referees have been warned in particular to curb elbowing. De Rossi was ejected, leaving Italy to play with 10 men for the final 62 minutes. But the United States' advantage did not last long. Seconds before halftime, Mastroeni slid violently into Pirlo and also drew a red card.

Arena said he believed that Larrionda was making up for the red card against Italy. But the officials' guidelines call for red cards for two-footed cleats-up tackles.

Two minutes into the second half, Pope tackled Gilardino from behind, drawing his second yellow card and a mandatory ejection.

Pope thought he reached the ball. Arena said he believed teams sometimes gained an edge from the referee because of their reputations. But Larrionda was quick and adamant in his decision.

"They are what they are," Arena said of his players' ejections. "Two red cards in the span of five minutes is pretty harsh."

Larrionda was barred for six months in 2002 by his country's soccer federation for unspecified "irregularities." Two days before the suspension, he had been chosen to officiate at the 2002 World Cup, which he was then forced to miss.

For the final 43 minutes, the Americans would have to survive with only Keller in goal and eight players in the field.

Knowing it would have voluminous space in which to operate, Italy brought Alessandro del Piero off the bench and charged after the Americans with three forwards. Arena countered with defender Jimmy Conrad, then the speedy midfielder DaMarcus Beasley.

Arena had criticized Beasley for lacking effort against the Czechs, but Beasley atoned Saturday by sprinting into the penalty area in the 65th minute and drilling a low shot into the net. The Americans began to celebrate, but McBride was clearly offside as he stood in front of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, and the goal was nullified. Mc Bride later said he was offsides and had shielded Buffon.

Italy kept attacking in waves, but Keller batted away a volley by Del Piero, then parried his 25-yard blast. Defender Oguchi Onyewu cleared the ball out of a dangerous scrum and headed away a threatening corner kick.

"When you play down a man, you're a wounded tiger," Conrad said.

Three minutes of stoppage time were added, but even then, Italy could not manufacture another goal. And, finally, it was over. This was not a victory for the United States on the scoreboard, but somehow it felt more satisfying than a tie.

"There's no way you train a team to play 10 against 9 for 40-something minutes in a World Cup," Arena said. "Our guys did a tremendous job."

The Americans have four days to recover before they face Ghana. "We're where we want to be on Day 3," Arena said. "We want to be alive. Who knows what can happen?"

After Saturday, almost anything seems possible.

Determined McBride Galvanized U.S. Team

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany, June 18 — When forward Brian McBride went to the sideline Saturday, having taken a vicious elbow in the face, the blood covering his nose and left cheek was worrisome but familiar.

"I've seen it many times," United States Manager Bruce Arena told reporters Sunday after the team returned to its World Cup base in Hamburg. "It didn't surprise me. I did think there was a chance he had to come out. You never know if there's some kind of facial injury."

McBride has needed a number of operations to repair broken bones in his face. It is an occupational hazard for a forward in soccer. He eventually received three stitches below his left eye, but played all 90-plus minutes in a bruising and ultimately satisfying 1-1 tie against Italy.

The United States will reach the second round if it defeats Ghana on Thursday and Italy defeats the Czech Republic.

McBride ran ceaselessly during Saturday's match, in which three players received red-card ejections and the United States forged a draw despite having only nine players available for the final 43 minutes. By the final whistle, McBride's head and feet had been involved in two of the game's determining and controversial plays.

The debate continued Sunday about the decisions made by the referee, Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay. Arena offered a fairly evenhanded assessment, saying he believed that FIFA, soccer's world governing body, probably considered that Larrionda had done "a good job."

At the same time, Arena said he believed that World Cup referees had punished some fouls with excessive harshness and inconsistency.

One red card that brought no disagreement Saturday was the one issued to the Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi for elbowing McBride in the 28th minute. The hit, Arena said, "could have broken his face."

Marcello Lippi, Italy's coach, called it De Rossi's "umpteenth stupid mistake." After the match, McBride said that De Rossi had apologized and that the matter "is now finished."

Arena and McBride also agreed that Larrionda had accurately ruled McBride offside on an apparent goal by midfielder DaMarcus Beasley in the 65th minute.

Even though McBride was beyond the final Italian defender, he might not have been whistled offside if he had not been involved in the play. But he admitted that he screened goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and had to raise his foot out of the way of Beasley's low shot, distracting Buffon.

"I don't disagree with it," McBride said of the offside call. At the time, Arena screamed on the sideline about the nullified goal, "That's impossible." Sunday, though, he called the decision correct.

Arena also did not dispute a red card issued to midfielder Pablo Mastroeni for a two-footed cleats-up tackle of Andrea Pirlo. It was a judgment call, Arena said. He criticized Mastroeni for committing a foul in the final minute of the first half while being far from the ball and in the Italian half of the field.

"It was a poor error in judgment," Arena said.

Mastroeni will have to sit out the game against Ghana. So will defender Eddie Pope, who received a second yellow card two minutes into the second half for tackling Alberto Gilardino from behind. Pope said he thought he got the ball. Although Arena agreed that a foul had been committed, he questioned whether it deserved a yellow card.

"I think fouls are being punished too harshly without warnings," Arena said. "Sometimes, it's just a foul; it's not a yellow card. I think it's just gotten excessive in the World Cup."

He mentioned the case of Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan, who received his second yellow card of the tournament Saturday for taking a penalty kick prematurely in a 2-0 victory against the Czech Republic. Gyan will not be eligible to play against the United States.

"That's excessive," Arena said. "I think that's wrong; a great player like that is out of an important game for his team. I think there's been too much of that."

While Gyan sits, McBride will be looking to score in his third World Cup. No broken bones were reported as a result of the elbowing. In fact, McBride said he did not even feel much pain. After repeated operations — including plastic surgery — to repair shattered cheekbones, McBride said: "I don't have a lot of feeling in my face. My nerves are all dead from the surgeries. You get hit and you get back up."

With the United States down to nine players for most of the second half, McBride became ubiquitous. He challenged the Italian defenders, drifted back to help in the midfield, even retreated to the back line occasionally to cover when a defender made a run forward.

"McBride never stopped for 90 minutes," Arena said, adding that he did not use his third substitution because he did not think Eddie Johnson or Brian Ching were experienced enough to contribute the necessary resourcefulness that McBride provided.

"He's a warrior," Arena said.

At 6 feet 1 inch, McBride is often not the flashiest player on the field, but he is considered indispensable. He has scored 30 goals for the national team. Yet Arena has often said that McBride is most appreciated for plays that only his teammates notice.

"He keeps balls alive, makes the extra effort, wins balls in the air," Arena said. "We scoop up the second ball and we're in the attacking half of the field. He's not a forward that stops once the ball turns over. He's active in defending. He competes in every play in his part of the field. When you have 10 players who can do that at the same time, you have a team."

And so it was no surprise Saturday when McBride chased a high bounce only to be whacked by De Rossi.

"He's got a few titanium plates in his face already," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "So you know he's going to stick it in places where most people would prefer not to."