something got to turn out right

What a game. Exciting and disappointing at the same time. I can't believe the US managed to pull off the 1-1 draw against Italy after three ejections put the US down to nine men against ten Italians. After getting destroyed by the Czech Republic, the US played today like a completely different team and held on the whole time to force the draw. Keller did a fantastic job in goal, making some spectacular saves near the end to preserve the tie.

Had it not been for the two ridiculous cards, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have won. Italy's player got ejected first for throwing an elbow in Brian McBride's face. Yeah, that's what they make red cards for. But Mastroeni's foul should have only been a yellow card. Sure, he only tackled the player, but it was only from the side not behind and he was going for the ball when he did it. You don't just pull out a red card for that. There's also no way Pope should have been given his second yellow card. He made contact with the ball, then tackled the player. It shouldn't have even been a foul. We played so well the whole game, even after the terrible calls and playing almost the entire second half with only nine men. We even scored a goal to go ahead in the second half, but it was called off for offsides. Considering the referees have already been criticized for the number of cards given out in games, I hope this official has done his last game in the Cup.

So we take one point from the draw. That's not the three points for a win we really hoped for (or should have had), but after Ghana's stunning upset over the Czechs, we still have a chance to advance with a victory of Ghana and an Italian win over the Czech Republic on Thursday (or a number of scenarios with a Czech - Italy draw).