In the end, the sending off of Ricardo Clark didn't matter much. The US International Soccer team was out-manned, out-gunned, and out-talented when they step out of the friendly confines of CONCACAF and into the harsh glare of the European spotlight of soccer.
For those concerned about such things, the final score was Italy 3, US 1. Guisseppe Rossi, born in New Jersey but of Italian heritage, scored two goals (one spectacular) as the Italians illuminated the US team's two biggest flaws.....
1. Lack of creativity in the scoring zone - To be blunt, the US has no creativity in the scoring zone. This is evidenced by the paucity of US goals scored during the run of play. The lone US goal in this game was scored by Landon Donovan, the leading US scorer in International play, on a penalty kick. Unfortunately the US scoring attack is more about PK's and set plays than it is spectacular, creative play in the midfield. That Donovan, who's real talent lies in ball distribution rather than scoring, is the US' leading scorer speaks volumes about the paucity of American talent on offense.
2. Lack of organization in the midfield. - Too many Italian mid-fielders and strikers had wide-open shots, with no pressure applied to try and blunt the attack. The US has a great goal-minder in Tim Howard (continuing a string of quality goal-keeping) but he was helpless against the barrage of scorching shots from the Italians, and (on the last goal) weak marking by a tired defense.
After all was said and done, the final result was a lot better than it should have been. Tim Howard saved the day with several outstanding saves, and Donovan and Co. displayed the ability to control the ball somewhat against the physically dominant Italians. The Azzurri could have named their score, had the Americans not been scrappy. That's a credit to the coach, the players and the team as a whole, with the faults lying almost exclusively with an over-regimented US soccer system that encourages by the book training, and eschews the free-flowing, quality play that's embraced by the rest of the world.
Samba soccer anyone? It'd be nice.
