9 v. 10

In case you didn’t know, soccer is supposed to be played 11 a side, with 10 field players and one goalie. Unfortunately, the U.S. and Italy forget this basic tenant of soccer and commenced a first round World Cup match nine a side verses eleven a side. In all honesty, U.S. and Italy did not forget this basic tenant of soccer, they were both forced to play with these ridiculous numbers because of bad officiating.

Saturday’s game was a perfect example of a referee interjecting himself into the match and totally ruining it for the competitors and fans. He blew his whistle on every hard play (it didn’t help that the Italian players flopped all over the place) and seemed to enjoy carding players. Three players suffered from his rampage, although one player actually deserved a red card. First, Italy’s Daniele De Rossi received a red card after elbowing U.S. striker Brian McBride in the face. McBride received three stitches on one cheek from the vicious elbow. Next, U.S. midfielder Pablo Mastroeni was sent to the locker room in the 45th minute for a cleats-up tackle on an Italian player. Honestly, Mastroeni should’ve received a yellow card for the tackle (I’ve seen Bean tackle people harder than that and not get carded). Last, defender Eddie Pope got his second yellow card of the game for a tackle in which he got the ball first then took down an Italian player. Once again, this play didn’t warrant a card, especially since he got ball first and the player was only taken out by the momentum of the play.

After all the cards and continued chippy play, the U.S. and Italy ended the match with a 1 – 1 tie. Considering the U.S. is 0 – 8 in World Cup games played in Europe and have never previously scored on any of the big five nations of Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France, this is something to celebrate.* Where still in the tournament and still have a chance to advance to the round of 16, as long as we beat red hot Ghana and Italy loses to the Czech Republic.

The U.S. plays Ghana on Thursday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m. eastern standard.

AMERCIA ROCKS!

* Actually, the U.S. still hasn't scored on any of the big five because Saturday's goal was a deflection from an Italian player.