World Cup: U.S. Bounces Back to Tie Italy 1-1

Kasey Keller Photo Courtesy: AP

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Bloodied but not beaten, the United States bounced back to hold Italy to a 1-1 tie Saturday night in an ugly World Cup game with three ejections, a disallowed American goal and wide-open play.

With thousands of fans in red, white and blue cheering the United States on a warm night, the Americans came out aggressive — and then hung on while playing most of the second half at a man disadvantage. Their reward was their first World Cup point in Europe.

U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller saved the Americans with a pair of point-blank stops on Alessandro Del Piero in the final 20 minutes.

"It was a total team effort and those guys bled today for our country and our team," Keller said.

The American team, harshly criticized for lackluster and nervous play in their opener, went to a corner of the field after the final whistle to salute their fans at Fritz-Walter-Stadion, a group roughly equal in size to supporters of the famous Azzurri, a three-time World Cup champion.

"We gave everything, but it was difficult after the second red card," captain Claudio Reyna said. "We gave everything at the end to get a point."

The result complicated a group that after the first games seemed clear.

Italy (1-0-1) leads Group E with four points, one ahead of the Czechs and Ghana (both 1-1) and three ahead of the Americans (0-0-1).

The United States, seemingly deflated after a 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic, now finds itself with a chance to advance to the second round if it beats Ghana on Thursday in its final first-round game.

For the United States to reach the round of 16, it must win, coupled with an Italian victory over the Czechs. Or there Italy would have to tie the Czechs along with a U.S. victory by a margin of several goals.

"It's very simple, we have to win," Reyna said. "We have a super chance now."

The draw marked a milestone in the history of U.S. soccer. The Americans were 0-8 in World Cup games played in Europe, and they had never gotten as much as a single point in Europe in any match against the big five nations of Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France.

thank the italians for the goal...

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