Team Regains Respect With a Gritty Effort

For a team that still hasn’t achieved any of the primary World Cup objectives -- you know, like scoring goals and winning games -- the United States had plenty of reasons to be proud Saturday night.

The Americans could take pride in the stitches on forward Brian McBride’s left cheek, the gauze sticking out of defenseman Jimmy Conrad’s right nostril, the sweat on Coach Bruce Arena’s forehead. They all reflected the effort and sacrifice that went into a 1-1 tie with Italy, a group-play point gained despite playing at a man disadvantage for most of the second half.

That the U.S. still has a chance to advance to the knockout round of competition is almost secondary. It’s an added bonus, a gift courtesy of Ghana’s surprising victory over the Czech Republic that reshaped Group E and put everyone in play. (There are a couple of scenarios that work out for the Americans, but the simplest is to beat Ghana and for Italy to beat the Czechs.)

The real U.S. achievement would have been the same regardless of the outcome of this game. They had a chance to redeem themselves after that dismal, 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic in the opener. They had a chance to show everyone that American soccer can compete with Europeans, even in Europe.

“You earn respect,” goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “And we earned it today, no question about it.”

But this wasn’t just about proving something to the rest of the world or giving validity to the commercials and magazine covers. That was the original agenda of Team USA, but that got lost somewhere between the second and third goals scored by the Czech Republic. Suddenly, they had inner doubts that needed to be addressed. Those questions have been answered.

“We can look each other in the eyes and say we gave it everything that we had,” Conrad said. “I think that was something that was missing in the Czech game.”

Hard to believe it wasn’t there in the opener, the first World Cup game for the newcomers, a four-year wait for the veterans.

The Americans didn’t go down swinging against the Czechs, and they knew it. For the most part, they watched the game happen to them and didn’t do anything about it. That’s why Arena uncharacteristically called out DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan and Keller.

“We didn’t do ourselves any justice,” Clint Dempsey said. “We didn’t do American soccer any justice.”

This time Keller made huge saves. Donovan attacked the Italians and kept balls in play. He collapsed on the field afterward, exhausted. That’s the risk you run by actually extending yourself. Beasley lost his starting spot, but instead of pouting he gave the U.S. a boost when he came in during the second half, and for a moment he appeared to score the go-ahead goal before it was waved off because McBride was offside.

The last time the World Cup was held on this continent, in France in 1998, the U.S. lost all three games and scored only one goal. The Americans are still working on the scoring part -- their goal Saturday was knocked in by Italy’s Cristian Zaccardo -- but sometimes what the other team doesn’t do is just as important as what you do.

In this case, Italy didn’t score after the U.S. had two players ejected. The Americans had enjoyed a man advantage since the middle of the first half, when Daniele De Rossi received a red card for nailing McBride with an elbow that opened a gash in McBride’s cheek. But the edge swung the other way when Pablo Mastroeni was ejected in the 45th minute, followed by Eddie Pope two minutes into the second half on his second yellow card of the game, calls the Americans found highly questionable.

“We did a good job of giving it right back,” Conrad said. “Actually, the refs did a good job of giving it back.”

The remaining Americans held tight with the eight remaining players plus Keller, who made two great saves against Alessandro Del Piero to preserve the tie.

A soccer game isn’t a reflection of a nation for the U.S. the way it is for other countries. This wasn’t about America as much as it was about a group of Americans, 23 players and a coaching staff, forced to account for themselves in a far-off land.

“Today we competed the way we can,” Keller said. “When we do that, so many things open up for you. And also you have the respect of yourself, that you’ve gone out and you’ve absolutely given everything you possibly could. There’s not a player on the field today that could say he didn’t hold his own. And the other day you could have said they didn’t....

“No question about it. We knew that we’d put ourselves in a hole. We also knew that if we came out here and gave everything you have, nobody’s going to fault you.”

Instead, they might even praise you.

Not bad for a winless, scoreless team.