US vs ITALY Today

[rebelduckaholic]

US needs to pull a win today in a bad way

[rebelduckaholic]

Ghana pulled the huge upset over the Czech Republic.

[iron grip]

Uh Oh
What's gonna happen next???

Really, I think refs are way to quick with the red card in both cases. Luck could be a huge factor today.

[MudHog]

They maybe to quick, but it's part of their new zero tolerance policy for this year. They not putting up with any crap.

[rebelduckaholic]

The refs were absolutely terrible. They have been this way in just about every game of the world cup I have seen though. Too quick to the pocket.

[duckkiller]

I'm so sick of all that crap on TV its all thats on

[iron grip]

then watch the soap opera channel or bugs fornicatin something besides complaining about it to us

[mottlet]

Refs sucked. Even the elbow to McBride should not have been a red. Though the doubters should ask ol' Brian what he thinks about toughness. I've seen less blood in UFC fights. But apparently, some of that blood was still in his eyes, since he couldn't see how freakin' offsides he was on the goal by Beasley that was called back. Glad we got the point, but I'll tell you what...Ghana is looking pretty scary right now.

mottlet

[big gumbo]

Ghana, little country full of Zulus vs. United States, over 400 million strong with a wealth of resource. And, here we sit debating how tough Ghana is and the task at hand for beating them. That but puts soccer in the states in its proper context. If we don't take things like the World Baseball classic seriously do you ever think the country as a whole will ever get sucked into the hoopla that is Fifa World Cup, I think not.

[rebelduckaholic]

little cumbo why don't you just stay out of this conversation. You know nothing about the sport and you have already decided you don't like it. There are a few pople on here believe it or not that like soccer. You have made your point. So leave

[big gumbo]

No

[Drakeshead]

The refs were absolutely terrible. They have been this way in just about every game of the world cup I have seen though. Too quick to the pocket.

I agree with you. The Ref's are calling the game's too tight! All of the games that I have watched, the Ref's just seem to be calling it too close. Let these guys play. With this being the World Cup, the Ref's need to let the players decide the games, not themselves.

[mottlet]

Having had time to cool off and re-watch the game on DVR, I've reached the following conclusions:
1)The ref in the U.S./Italy game DID suck, BUT;
2)The red card to DeRossi or whoever for elbowing McBride was valid, FIFA is expected to hand down a suspension any day.
3)The red card to Maestroni was valid. While the ref may have been able to get away with only giving a yellow, the red was valid. It was an incredibly late and dangerous tackle, with no tactical reasoning. It was right before half and in the middle of the field. Maestroni should have known better.
4)The second yellow and subsequent red to Eddie Pope was bullschit. For that matter, the first yellow issued to Pope was pretty damn petty.
5)Where I thought the ref really screwed up was not so much with the cards, but in not recognizing the blatant diving being perpetrated by the Italians. If a U.S. player breathed on them, they hit the turf and were almost always rewarded with a foul.

Whoever is ref for the game against Ghana will probably have their hands full. Both teams have demonstrated that they will play aggressive, and with it being the last game in the first round, one yellow card means nothing since a player's slate is wiped clean if his team advances. If the team that tied Italy shows up, we win. The problem is that the Czechs will probably be highly motivated to defend their #2 ranking after being embarrased by Ghana. But hopefully, Italy can pull it out. Might be a moot point since we can't win our group and if we advance, will most likely be matched up with Brasil.

mottlet