WC 2006: Group E

[Syntherio]

Uh... hard decision, but I think that was correct. Active offside and not passive.

 

[Arminius]

Well, another stolen goal.

 

[Arminius]

Where's the red or yellow on THAT?!?!

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I would never have expected this from the USA. Really nice work holding off the Italians. Especially when down to nine men.

 

[AceChilla]

Yep a great stunt indeed, and I hope De Rossi gets banned for the rest of the tourney after that horrible elbow.

This is the most fun World cup day so far

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

That's it - 1-1!

Which means this group is still open for the taking!

 

[Koelle]

dirtiest game so far

 

[Syntherio]

Nice performance by the USA. If they play that well against Ghana, they will win and maybe proceed to the next round.

 

[Dell19]

Nice performance by the USA. If they play that well against Ghana, they will win and maybe proceed to the next round.

I don't know since Ghana played very well as well today. Any team could still qualify and all to play for in the final matches. USA may be ultimately punished for losing the first game 3-0 if they win and end up tied with Italy.

 

[woodelf]

I agree that Pope should have been taken out. Anyone notice that the whistle got swallowed after the 3rd red? The ref completely went 180 on how he called the game. Ugh. Great game, crappy refereeing. Italy got screwed on some offsides, and the US got screwed on cards. Even.

 

[ThERat]

refereeing was weird to say the least. almost every offside decision was wrong as well...

it may come down to goal difference. or maybe not if ghana and czech win both their games
or I might still be right with my prediction of czech and usa advancing.

 

[AceChilla]

I disagree. The refereeing was good. he called both red cards which where fully deserved, and the turned down goal was justified since it was off side. I dont think it's fair to blame the referee.

To bad the USA didn't finish it off, but what can you expect with 9 men.

 

[Volum]

The red cards for De Rossi and Pope where justified IMO. The one for that other USA guy was harsh. I also belive that the American disalowed goal was right, Mcbride is cleary atleast disrupting Buffon.

And Italy should have had a penalty in the last minutes there

 

[jameson]

Absolutely heroic performance by the USA there.
I agree on the criticism of the linesmen - several dodgy offside calls hurting the Italians there ( but with the frequency the Italians did in fact run into the offside trap, I can't really blame them). I have no quarrel with any of the red cards though - in fact, I wish more of the refs had had the guts to produce one for two-footed tackles not involving the ball. Pope's second yellow may have been a bit harsh, but the first one was absolutely a consequence of tactical error, and maybe he was even lucky not to get sent off the first time around.

I have a hard time deciding whether to cheer for the USA or the Ghanaians now in the next match.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Absolutely heroic performance by the USA there.
I agree on the criticism of the linesmen - several dodgy offside calls hurting the Italians there ( but with the frequency the Italians did in fact run into the offside trap, I can't really blame them). I have no quarrel with any of the red cards though - in fact, I wish more of the refs had had the guts to produce one for two-footed tackles not involving the ball. Pope's second yellow may have been a bit harsh, but the first one was absolutely a consequence of tactical error, and maybe he was even lucky not to get sent off the first time around.

I have a hard time deciding whether to cheer for the USA or the Ghanaians now in the next match.

Me too. Let's just pick one each and both be happy.

 

[MCdread]

Weird second half. When USA got down to 9, Lippi replaced Trap at the bench and put in Del Piero for a defender, but shortly Italy was down to 9.5 men, as Perrotta was injured, and Italy was never able to really dominate the opponent. I think the USA played quite well when down to 9 men, but the negative goal difference of 3 goals will be a ghost haunting them for the next match. And Ghana produced one of the best performances of the WC so far the game before and look to be on a high momentum right now.
But this is by far the best group so far, with the most exciting games, and the only until now where any team can still progress or be eliminated after 2 games. Maybe this is the real group of death after all.
But the US is in a difficult position. They absolutely have to win and the only result that will safely see them through is an Italy win on the other game, otherwise it will come down to goals, and as said before, they have a very negative score on that right now.
But basically, the teams that impressed in the first game disappointed in the second and vice-versa, so it is very risky to predict right now.

 

[Comraddict]

A tackle from back is a yellow card per rules, I don't seen anything wrong with refereeing.

 

[volta]

Wow, the US play well today. But they should be happy: that Yellow for Pope in the 21st was a Red for me...
This will become an interesting game in the second half.

If you see a replay of Pope's first yellow, watch how much his jersey is getting pulled by the Italian player. To me it looked like the Italian fell because he wanted a foul to be called.

 

[Red Door]

The red on Masteroni was atrocious. That was complete BS, tackle from the side, and gets the ball. WTH? He pulls out a red.

Second yellow on Pope? Complete BS again. He gets the ball from the side, and then the Italian trips over him. That's a foul, but no card.

That ref deserves to be fired.

 

[MCdread]

The red on Mastroeni is exactly the kind of challenge FIFA has been instructing the refs to punish with a red card. It was really a stupid action of his...