Anyone eatching Italy vs. US?

[lopxtc]

Oh man this is a good game so far ... US got lucky with that goal ... and what about that elbow thrown by the Italian player ... damn ...

Aaron

[kosmo]

Id say the Italians are definitely living up to their reputation of being a bunch of punk actors.

[lopxtc]

Oh hell yeah ... they are diving on every play the Americans are making. Every time they lose the momentum of their players takes a dive.

And that red card on our player ... pure BS, like they were saying both sides have been late tackling all day.

Aaron

[lopxtc]

damnit ... Now Pope is gone ... what the hell is wrong with that ref ... damnnit

Aaron

[master_alexander]

players win the game
coaches loose the game
referees ruin the game.

/i ref. i feel their pain. still, there was some horrible calls.

[WaffleBaron]

still, there was some horrible calls.

You're right, only some were horrible, the rest were just bad.

I hope that guy just goes home before he makes a call that really gets him in trouble.

[yeahthatsme]

i hope that ref is dumb enough to go on vacation in italy, they take their soccer CRAZY serious there, prolly have a lynch mob after him.

[zt10]

US was much improved from the czech game, they were extremely unlucky. i saw them winning the game until the ref took the game away from the US. The hard red on maestroni was ridiculous, and Popes was not a cardable foul either.....but owell i was happy with teh improvement in the team.

[Warewolf50]

Well after that game was stolen from us all we need now to happen is for italy to beet chezc and we need to beat ganna (sp). If all of that happens we get to make it to the elimination rounds.

[warbeak2099]

Ack, I was rooting for Italy. The US team just isn't that good and they're such blowhards too. I hope by some miracle the US does make it back to playing Italy so they can lose because Italy doesn't score on themselves this time! Bunch of pompous, self-absorbed losers. That's what the US team is this year. I wish Easter Island had a team so they could beat US and embarass them.

[Thordic]

Even without the crappy ref, the US was having trouble against the Italian club having a very bad day.

I'll admit the ref screwed the game, but even before that the US team didn't look so hot.

Ghana, on the other hand, is looking VERY good. I have a feeling that they'll beat the US.

My prediction is Italy and Ghana make the 2nd round, US and Czech go home. Which is very surprising, I thought Czech and Italy would make it and Ghana would go home. I never expected the US to advance past the Italians and Czechs.

[Cyborg06]

Just proves that american fans far away from understanding concept of soccer game. As well as they far away of knowing rules of soccer.

Ref did ONE bad call in this game. He missed hand play by Italian player. That is all. All red cards were right on money. You cant tackle from behind period. No matter what you hit: ball or leg - you cant tackle from behind. And if you hit other player leg it is red card right away.

Take it from soccer refferi who was reffing in Europe for 9 years and was attending refferies seminars every year. From Scottland to Jordan.

In intence and dirty game like USA vs ITA without strict desigion someone would end-up punched in the face or with a broken leg: both can cost someone career. It is ref's responsobility to take game under control even if it means to send out 2-3 players.

As of hand play. I've seen clearly that there was a hand play. And it should be a penalty kick. So I can only find 2 explanation. Either ref was in a bad position and missed this moment or he actualy noticed that but countet as unintentional hand play.

You want to know how to check if refferi did OK or not? Check if he will be appointed to ref another game on this Cup. If yes than he definately did a great job.

[Thordic]

Eh, Cyborg, the second red card handed out to the US should have been a yellow, IMO. The call was very marginal, and after already having handed out a red card to the US in the match, the ref can't be throwing out red cards left and right on marginal calls.

A refs job is to keep the game in check, not control the game. A yellow card would have sufficed. A red card controls the game, as it puts the US down to 9 men, and no team has EVER scored in world cup history when playing with 9 men. If the foul had been flagrant, then I agree, but it was not flagrant and should have been a yellow.

[Cyborg06]

Here is interesting reading about this topic

Red and yellow cards warranted, FIFA says

Its basicaly the same as last season of NHL when refferies calling every single and every small rule breaking.

FIFA advised refferies to go by the book. If its red card for tackle from behind than its a red card.

[MarkM]

If you thought that reffing was bad then what was the ref taking for the Brazil V Australia match...he was so much of a fool that he changed his shirt halftime as it was not different enough to seen, half a dozen free kicks went against Australia and a couple of direct free kicks were reversed to Brazil. The final scoreline doesn't reflect how well Australia played at all. Oh and I am not a football fan but Australia were robbed of any chances they could have had.