Out of fingernails.

"Players win games, coaches lose them, referees ruin them."
-- Eric Wynalda

Absolutely brutal game. It could not in any way have been more poorly officiated; Franz Beckenbauer may well have had an aneurysm in the 47th after the U.S. had two players sent off in the space of three minutes between the end of the first half and the start of the second. The Italian red card - a flagrant elbow to the head, justified. Mastroeni's red in the 45th? Ridiculous. His spikes were out but not fully up - it's not the worst straight red I've ever seen, not even in this tournament (Ukraine's red against Spain was an obscenely bad call), but it was a bad one considering it wasn't in the box or anything. Should have been a yellow. Pope's second yellow in the 47th? Again, probably not the single worst yellow you'll ever see, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a pretty terrible call. That said, we got nothing out of Pope, to paraphrase Bruce Arena; it was his stupid "playing the offsides trap when no one else is" mistake that gave Italy their goal after the U.S. dominated play for the first 20 minutes. Still, the ref's itchy card hand cost the U.S. the game; the fact that we got some decent chances even with nine men should tell you that Italy weren't playing very well. The U.S. defense finally got it together in the second half (ironic since there were only three professional defenders out there) and avoided conceding even though the Italians were on the front foot for most of the 45, and Keller actually made a couple of nice saves.

Beasley's non-goal? Yeah, I guess it was offsides, but man, that sucked. We were screaming in the apartment thinking the U.S. could pull off a miracle. Though frankly, holding with nine men (even if the Italians had just ten themselves)? Kind of a miracle. Though they made mistakes and were punished for a couple of them, this might have been the best international performance in U.S. soccer history, when you combine the aspects of where they were, who they were playing, what happened in the game, and the size of the stage they were on. Gritty, draining second half performance. I just hope the team has something left for Ghana, because those guys aren't exactly pushovers. Combine the Ghana stunner with the U.S. game and the fact that it was almost 90 degrees in the apartment until halftime of the U.S. game and this is easily the most exhausting sports day of my life. I'm just relieved we held on; we can't win the group now, which is unfortunate (because that door had been opened with Ghana's win, and you know Brazil is going to be waiting for the #2 team), but with the way the team played in the first game, and today's partial redemption, I'd take advancement. Ironically I'm now compelled to root for Italy, but even though they're all whiners I think the Czechs annoy me more. Viva Italia!

Cribbing from the format of Michael Davies' rating of England players, here's how I thought the U.S. did:

Not At All Crap
Oguchi Onyewu
Steve Cherundolo
Clint Dempsey

Onyewu had a couple dumb fouls early but managed to avoid a card, and once he settled down he was the most reliable defender at the back. Cherundolo was also fairly good on defense and had no notable lapses. Dempsey's energy and creativity didn't lead to enough U.S. chances, but that was pretty much never his fault. He's gotta start against Ghana.

A Little Crap, But Only a Little
Kasey Keller
Landon Donovan
Carlos Bocanegra
Bobby Convey
DaMarcus Beasley
Claudio Reyna
Jimmy Conrad

Most of the team played pretty well, though all had a handful of flaws. Keller made a couple decent saves but did not punt especially well. Donovan was much more aggressive in the midfield than in the last game but was still too hesitant at the top of the area (so was most of the team, which has to stop). Bocanegra played pretty good defense, enough so that I rarely found myself forced to comment on him, but he did nearly head in an own goal (it went off the crossbar). Convey's speed was good but I think his crosses still leave a bit to be desired. Beasley played great for five to ten minutes and then stopped running, perhaps dispirited that his goal was stripped - but you've gotta keep playing hard. For a while he energized the team but then he vanished, something I don't think Eddie Johnson would have done. Reyna, I feel pretty much the same way about him as Donovan - better than last game (in Reyna's case, since he didn't suck against the Czechs, maybe as good) but didn't help create enough really great chances at the top of the box. Conrad was a minimal factor, but he didn't allow a goal.

Fairly Crap
Brian McBride
Pablo Mastroeni

McBride was much more effective than last game, but considering how invisible he was in Gelsenkirchen that's only saying so much. The couple good chances that came to him he couldn't finish, and it was his interference that prevented Beasley's goal from counting, so I'm forced to stick him here. Mastroeni may be getting a bit of a raw deal since there's no way it was a straight red, but refs frequently give makeup calls and Mastroeni's clumsy tackle gave the ref far too large an excuse to pull another one out.

BMOP (Bowel Movement on Pitch)
Eddie Pope

Absolutely wretched. Even if he could start against Ghana I would hope Arena would bench him like crazy. Take away the second yellow, which was weak; the first yellow was pretty fair if I remember right, and emblematic of one of Pope's many defensive breakdowns. The most egregious of those came in the 22nd, when he inexplicably left his man on a free kick hoping to play the offsides trap - except he didn't tell anyone else, so Gilardino was easily onsides and buried it past a helpless Keller (who really hasn't given up a single goal in this tournament he could do anything about, and three of those involved embarrassing defensive lapses). If I were Bruce Arena I feel like I would have pulled Pope right that second (assuming I could have noticed it from the bench, of course). Pope's game today made Jeff Agoos look like John Terry. What I don't get about Pope is this: I swear that every time I watch the U.S. play, he has a bad game. Why is he such an unquestioned starter?

Other than that, meh. I'm not sure why Arena sat on the last substitution, especially with Reyna (and everyone else, really) clearly flagging late in the game. Put in Johnson and try for a last burst, or put in Lewis to tighten up the back, but why leave a sub on the table in a game this draining? Other than that I thought his changes were pretty good.

There is no doubt in my mind that this team does not attack enough. The midfield play itself was nice and aggressive, but everyone tensed up around the area. Can't happen. Please note that the U.S. have still not scored a goal of their own in the World Cup; they need to get at least two up there on Thursday, and that won't happen without more movement in the box. Maybe the U.S. were willing to play for the draw today, but Thursday it's win or bust. Ghana are good, as we saw today, but they're not so good that I would let their offense preoccupy me and waste energy by trying to divide and conquer. Sure, make sure you've got a solid defensive unit out there. But attack, attack, attack. Do, or do not. There is no try.

Whew. Anyone else feel like that second half took ten years off your life?