United States Win Over Italy Marks Progress On Many Different Levels

For the past ten years American soccer has gotten better due to many players getting the chance to play with good teams in respected European leagues.

In the United States Men’s National Team’s 1-0 victory against Italy –its first win against the Azzuris ever—it looked like all the time developing has finally shown true progress as a soccer nation.

The win was a team effort but in a lineup that featured 10 of the 11 starters playing in Europe some names stood out: Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers) and Tim Howard (Everton).

Some may say that they are the team’s best players and they should stand out, but they all put in notable performances against one of the world’s elite teams. How they played and how they handled the pressure of the game said a lot about how they have improved over the years.



Tim Howard is the team’s most consistent player and didn’t have to make any miraculous saves tonight. But as the United States started to lose its interest in attacking once it had the lead Italy dominated possession and was a constant threat.

Howard and Bocanegra remained calm under pressure and time and time again turned away the Italian offense. Howard made some key saves and Bocanegra covered for mistakes from other defenders and kept another clean sheet—the 23rd of Howard’s international career.

Dempsey has been one of the hottest players in the English Premier League this season. Player of the Year for the club last year, Dempsey has scored 16 goals in 34 games in all competitions for the Cottagers this season. His confidence is soaring—a must for any goal scorer—and he isn’t afraid to let a shot fly.

His creativity and talent have always been there but his confidence and maturity were honed in England. He still celebrates in style and trash talks his opponents but in the game against Italy commentator Taylor Twellman commented on Dempsey’s newfound business-like approach to the game that he's noticed in recent interviews and how it shows that he is maturing as a player.

The central midfield tandem of Bradley and Edu was extremely efficient tonight. It’s been a challenging year for Bradley: his father was sacked as national team coach, he stopped receiving playing time with his club team—Borussia Monchengladbach—and even lost his starting spot in the midfield for the USMNT for the beginning of Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure.

A move to Chievo Verona though put him back on the pitch and right at the center of the action. He is the team’s main central midfielder and has played very well. Against Italy he was all over the field breaking up plays. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time and his ball movement was clean and crisp.

Edu, who hasn’t fared well with the USMNT since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, has continued to plug away at Rangers. A valuable member of that club, the team is scrambling to keep him before his contract expires. Against Italy he stepped in and played his best game for the team in the past year. He made good decisions both defensively and offensively and played a clean game. The fans watching the game didn’t hear his name much, but as a holding midfielder that’s a good thing, meaning he wasn’t out of position or making costly errors.

Klinsmann wants to make the team more possession-oriented. A key to holding onto the ball for longer and more efficient periods is play from the midfielders, specifically the central midfielders. Bradley and Edu are defensive-first-minded players but they can play both ways and against Italy they showed they hold the keys to the team’s progress. Both displayed fine footwork and an ability to move the ball out of trouble as well as link the defense to the offense.



Altidore is also another player that will play an important role in the team’s new mentality. He didn’t score and he will likely be criticized for that. But the things he was able to do speak volumes of his improvement.

The 22-year-old is having an incredible season with his club team, scoring 13 goals in 34 games across all competitions. He is gaining confidence week-to-week, developing good work habits and he is also finally learning how to use his size to his advantage.

At 6-feet-1-inch Altidore is a big, strong forward. The best plays he makes are when he shields the ball from his opponents and turns his defender. He has an advantage over guys and should use it. When he was younger, however, he would try to dribble and take guys on, usually trying to do too much and turning the ball over. Against Italy though he looked like a target forward. He got into space, played with his back to the goal, collected the ball and because he was properly shielding it he was able to pass it off—like he did on the assist of Dempsey’s goal—or turn and free himself from the defense.

Being able to hold the ball, as noted before, will be critical and if the team continues to play with only one forward Altidore will, at times, need to be able to collect the pass, shield and wait for help. He has been doing it more and more and the Italy game showed how much he has improved.

There is still so much for the team and these individuals to do to improve. In the second half, when protecting the lead, the team reverted to a more defensive-shell, something that they will need to un-learn.

But the first-ever victory over Italy, in Italy, against a top-tier country, in a pressure-packed environment and scoring against the run of play showed progress.

Progress was displayed not only by the team as whole but also by individuals. As more individuals like Altidore, Bradley and Edu take their games to top-level teams the whole team will continue to make successful leaps in terms of ability.

Photo Credits.
All phots: AP Photo/Luca Bruno

Anything Is Possible

Photo Credit. Vladimir Rys/ Bongarts/ Getty Images

It's unbelievable what just happened.

The United States had the odds stacked against them today.

Advancing to the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup was such a huge improbability that all anyone wanted today was a game they could be proud of, unlike the squad's 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Brazil.

Advancing to the semi-finals seemed so out of reach that Bob Bradley decided to give starting goalkeeper Tim Howard a breather and start backup Brad Guzan to get some key experience.

They needed to beat Egypt by three goals, which seemed impossible given that they scored only one goal in the past two games, and that one goal was from a penalty kick.

In addition to winning by three, Brazil needed to beat Italy by three, another improbability given the talent Italy has on its roster, not to mention being the defending World Cup champions.

Yet all of this was improbable, not impossible.

Brazil surprisingly took a 3-0 lead into halftime against Italy, with the help of an own goal. The Americans needed to take advantage of the opportunity given to them.

Starting Charlie Davies alongside Jozy Altidore paid immediate dividends for the U.S. team.

Davies' speed was problematic for the Egyptian defense all game, as he was able to get behind the defense and be on the receiving end of slicing through balls as well as opening up the field for the team's other playmakers.

It was Davies' hustle that started the U.S. attack, sticking with a loose ball inside the six-yard box and knocking it in for the 1-0 lead in the 21 minute.

His heart and hard play rubbed off on the rest of the squad.

The Americans were a much more aggressive team today than they have been in quite some time. They created more chances for themselves, continually pressed the defense, and finished their chances.

They were also much more disciplined in today's match.

For starters, they did not allow a goal in the first ten minutes.

Allowing a goal so early can really crush a team's spirit, while conversely giving momentum to the scoring squad.

Also, no one earned a red card.

Playing a man down really hurts a team. More space is opened up for the other team to attack through.

Going hand in hand with better discipline was that the midfielders did a much better job today getting back on defense.

Previously, midfielders were either not getting back at all, leaving the defense and goalkeeper to dry on breakaways, or they were getting back late and forcing poor challenges, which led to fouls, free kicks, and red cards.

Now the U.S. has pulled off the improbable. Sure they got a little lucky, with major help from Brazil, but they did their job. The Americans seized the moment and played a very good game.

Each player was productive on the field today.

Guzan made some beautiful saves; Jay DeMerit stepped up big again filling in for Carlos Bocanegra; Jonathan Bornstein and Jonathan Spector continued to play well as outside fullbacks; and Ricardo Clark may have learned from his mistakes as he did not commit any reckless challenges.

Clint Dempsey looked to be the lone U.S. player to struggle and not contribute much, but he became the hero when he headed home the third goal of the match in the 71 minute, the goal that put the Yanks in the semis.

The most important thing to take away from today's match was the heart the team showed and played with today.

The team played with a sense of urgency. They attacked with purpose and defended tenaciously. They came out today to play with pride and wound up completing an unbelievable turnaround to escape group play.

It is not time to forget about the horrific play in the previous games of the tournament as well as less than stellar efforts in recent World Cup qualifying.

It is not time to celebrate either, because Wednesday the U.S. will stand toe-to-toe with Spain, the number one ranked team in the world.

However, the players need to remember this feeling. Remember how it felt to win today and to overcome such great lengths to get in the next round.

They need to remember they got this result by playing smart, disciplined, and with heart.

If they remember that, who knows what can happen against Spain.

As the Americans proved today, anything is possible.

Winning Isn't Everything

AP Photo/ Rebecca Blackwell

It's a shame.

Non-soccer fans in the States and American critics will look at the U.S.'s 3-1 loss to Italy in the opening match of the Confederation Cup and view it as a major setback. They will think that the U.S. showed that it still cannot compete with soccer's elite.

However that was not the case.

It's unfortunate because the final score did not match the effort put together by Sam's Army. Sure, there were some poor plays, but overall the U.S. put together a good outing against a formidable opponent.

The first positive was the courage the squad displayed.

After Ricardo Clark's foolish challenge in the 33 minute earned him a red card, the team was forced to play almost an hour's worth of soccer a man down, not to mention a man down against the defending World Cup champions.

Yet the team played even more spirited after losing Clark. They were more dangerous in the attack and created more opportunities, giving themselves a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Landon Donovan, who scored the team's lone goal on a penalty kick, really stepped up to the challenge today.

Donovan did a great job creating offense for himself and for his teammates, which has been a problem lately.

The U.S. has had trouble scoring in the flow of play. Their goals have come off of dead balls: free kicks, corner kicks, and penalty kicks.

While their only goal of the day came off a penalty, the Americans were much more dangerous. Good passes lead to great scoring opportunities in the box from Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore.

Even Sacha Kljestan's shot in the 88 minute nearly curled in.

Now that they are creating chances, they need to be hungry and finish them.

Another part of their play that was much improved was the spacing.

The U.S. was disciplined enough to keep their shape and proper spacing on the field, even when they had to defend the floating playmakers Andrea Pirlo and Mauro Camoranesi and when Clark was ejected.

Proper spacing makes it harder for defenders to cover a single area and frees up space for creative players like Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Jozy Altidore, to make plays.

The biggest negative came from the central midfield.

We still don't know who to pair Bradley with.

Clark's red card, while debatable, was still a reckless challenge, and he has a history of doing such things. He is not a dependable player.

Benny Feilhaber was another central midfielder who got an opportunity today, but he made nothing of it. Although he was supposed to create offense he wasn't heard from at all, save for when he was stripped by Guiseppe Rossi, who then scored the equalizer.

The U.S. needs to find an effective player to pair with Bradley.

While this tournament may be just to test the team and individual players against top competition in preparation of the World Cup, the nation still needs to finish out its qualifying and having two competent center mids will be an important part of that.

Still, there is even a silver lining for that situation.

Jermaine Jones, who will change international status from German senior international to American senior international, will be able to join the team in October, and will most definitely slide in nicely with Bradley.

The U.S. will again have a tough task in its next match against Brazil, and will need at least a point to keep its chances of advancing to the next stage alive. However what is most important is to see continued improvement from this young squad, especially against quality competition.

It's a shame the outcome couldn't match the effort.

One That Got Away

AP Photo/ Manu Fernandez

When the United States men’s national soccer team gets ready to play Italy on Monday, their first opponent in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup tournament, they will have to prepare for someone that could’ve been one of them.

Giuseppe Rossi, a forward for the Azzuri, is one that got away.

Rossi, 22, was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, the son to Italian immigrant parents.

At 13, Rossi joined the Parma F.C. (Italy) youth team. According to his bio on his website, Rossi was nicknamed by his teammates the “American”. Although he was an American and Italian dual citizen, Rossi always wanted to be a part of the Italian national team, the country of his parents’ origin.

To prove this, Rossi suited up for the Italian youth-national teams. There was still hope for the U.S. though, as a player is not cap-tied until he plays at the U-20 level.

In July of 2003, Rossi transferred to EPL superpower Manchester United and scored in his debut with the club. He also spent time on loan with Newcastle and Parma.

Still, Rossi only made 13 appearances for the Red Devils, five in EPL play. Wanting more time with the first team, he was sold to Spanish side Villarreal and signed a six-year contract.

Rossi has scored 23 goals and registered 10 assists in league play, as well as scoring three times in the UEFA Champions League.

The U.S. still tried to sway Rossi to play for his birth-country, inviting him to U-20 world championships and a friendly against Scotland, but Rossi declined both times.

Instead, Rossi recently suited up for Italy in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He was the tournament’s top goal scorer, scoring four times, even though the team only reached the quarterfinals.

He scored his first goal with the senior side just five days ago in a friendly against Northern Ireland.

Now Rossi is headed to South Africa for the Confederations Cup with Italy and will square away against his home nation.

With the matchup, fans of the United States are only left to wonder what could have been.

What would the sometimes stagnant U.S. offense be like if it could pair Rossi with another young American talent (and coincidentally enough, property of Villarreal),
Jozy Altidore?

If Rossi chose to play for America, would it have had any impact on other American-born players that chose to play for other countries, like Neven Subotic?

Still, these questions are moot now. Rossi is a member of the Italian national team.

All the United States can do now is make Rossi second guess his decision with a good outing on Monday.