Rambling: US vs. Italy

Even though the game is now two days past, I wanted to write a few comments about the World Cup soccer match between the U.S. and Italy.

First, I was proud of the way the US played. Despite being reduced to 9 men for most of the second half, they held on for a tie, and very nearly produced the equalizer. The offside call that nullified the goal was correct, but it was disappointing.
Second, I was disappointed in the way the Italian team played. They were diving all over the place. The slightest bit of contact from a US player, and the Italians started flopping like a freshly caught fish. Italy's sole goal came as the result of one of those dives. The yellow and red cards the US received were all dives.
Third, I was disappointed in the quality of the refereeing. The center seemed to spend the majority of the game buying all of the Italians' diving, which disappointed me greatly. The result of all those Italian dives was a significant foul differential (US 24-Italy 13), which is unusual for this level when two teams were as closely matched as the US and Italy were. I would expect a referee at that level to be able to recognize when a player goes down way too easily and with way too much flourish. Apparently, he didn't, which is too bad. In addition, I'm not sure why the US players were sent off. I watched the replay of the red card, and it seemed to me that our player's timing was correct, his feet stayed down, and he got the ball, tripping the Italian incidental to the play. If he came in late or with his cleats up, I could see perhaps a yellow, but certainly not a red because the tackle certainly did not endanger the safety of the opponent. As far as the second red card, the result of two yellows, I did not see anything in either case that I thought merited cautioning the player. Sadly, the referee saw it differently.
In the end, though, no referee can cause a team to lose a game. The US proved that on Saturday by how they played. They never let the questionable calls or the constant theatrics of the Italians frustrate them. They played with great courage, and under the circumstances they saw, a draw is an excellent result. Now, all we have to do is beat Ghana and have Italy beat the Czech Republic. It could happen, and I can't wait to see if it does!