Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

Match Fit Reserve: Giuseppe Rossi's World Cup Diary

Saturday, June 26, 2010 | View Comments
Even my shirt says "The United States." I love America, see?

Friends, Roma fans, countrymen (Italians)! Lend me your ears. I come to bury Lippi, not to praise him. Cause what kind of joker deserves praise for dissing the best thing since Pizza Hut started doing lasagna? Yeah, now his career is all dried up and crustier than the bathroom at Sbarro, and my outlook is looking more golden than that thing I did with the register chick in the bathroom at Sbarro.

Not that I'm a hater. Gio's got enough love for everybody, even a washed up old hack who wouldn't know a world class player if it kicked him in his stupid ugly smelly old man face. And I can never be happy when my beloved Azzurri are out in the group stage. I was real messed up over it. One of the lowest points I've seen in all my years of watching ill couchio with the sound turned down and the curtains closed. My cousin Nicky tried to cheer me up by having me take him to my favorite Italian restaurant, Olive Garden, and I barely touched my Tour of Italy platter (still ate all the artichoke-spinach dip, though. Nothing like genuine Italian cuisine to ease the pain). I couldn't even get too excited when the waitress told me how sick my blowout looked. Still popped my Armani Exchange shirt off for her though. Once a player, amirite? Although I ruined it when it fell in my sauce. I swear, I lose more shirts this way...

And since we're on the topic of me, I watched the US-Algeria game at home the other day. I tried to go to a soccer bar with some American fans, but they threw things at me and yelled "traitor." I think they were mad about my choice of wardrobe, but your boy's gotta rep Algeria, they're next door to a former Italian colony. Some people just don't understand. One passport can't contain all this clutch. Speaking of clutch, you gotta hand it to my boy Landon Donovan. He's such a great player. Almost good enough to get left out of the Italy squad.

Now there's an ambition for all you young soccer players out there.

Your medicine in Edison,
GiOoOo RoSsI


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ESPN Gambles and Loses on World Cup Angle

Tuesday, June 01, 2010 | View Comments

ESPN the Magazine, that is.


They needed an angle, a World Cup story to pull in the casual American fan. Stories about the Yanks and their stars are trite and overdone (apparently), and the team needed something edgy, controversial.


What better than a profile of the young New Jersey-born star who spurned the country of his birth for the nation of his parents?


The story, and Giuseppe Rossi's agreeing to be the focus of an ESPN the Magazine cover piece, are not in and of themselves the problem. Many American had probably never heard of Rossi, and a story on his decision to leave American for Italy and a dream of playing for the Azurri is interesting and provocative on its own. ESPN didn't screw up by sending Jeff Bradley (brother of National Team head coach Bob, by the way) to do the story; they screwed up by choosing to drape the story in World Cup imagery while backhanding American soccer across the face in the process.


Read the tagline on the cover. ESPN went wading in dangerous waters, not only in an effort grab their readership by the balls and lead along them rather than walk them down the story's natural path, but also because Rossi was never a lock to make the Italian team.


So we don't feel too bad for them today, considering the rather blatant shot they took at U.S. National Team fans and American chances. Whether the line was true or not doesn't really matter; ESPN's tact was questionable at best. If U.S. fans were ever going to get over Rossi's "betrayal" (not my word), it was going to take some time; it's unfortunate then that ESPN extended the process by reopening the wound so dramatically.


I say get over it. ESPN didn't help my cause.


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Rossi Left Off Italy Camp Roster

Monday, May 03, 2010 | View Comments
Giuseppe Rossi

Despite the amount of time that has passed, there remains a Giuseppe Rossi-sized wound in the psyche of American soccer fans. The New Jersey-born Rossi, son of Italian immigrants and an immense talent by every American standard, chose to play for the country of his heritage rather than the nation of his birth.


For Rossi, the decision likely had as much to do with self-identification as it did with soccer pedigree. Italy are multiple world champions, a historical powerhouse, and playing for the national team is an honor of almost mythical soccer proportions; so if Rossi thought of himself as Italian, was good enough to have a shot at glory with Italy, and chose the prestige of the Azurri over the new relevance of the Yanks, who are we to blame him?


Yet some still have, and Rossi has been labelled a "traitor" by American soccer fans who let passion blind their appreciation of the young striker's choice. Hate the situation, not the player; the day will come, and has in lesser profile cases, where the United States will secure the services of young stars facing the same decision. Until then, the rightful direction for disdain is coaches and administrators who fail in their jobs (a la Neven Subotic), not players who are well within their rights to follow a non-American path.


For those that still despise Rossi for "turning his back" on the US National Team, perhaps the news that he failed to make Italy pre-World Cup squad released on the weekend seems like a bit of karmic retribution. It's not a binding list, and Rossi could still very well be in the final World Cup roster for Italy; but that's not a slam dunk by any means, and the Azurri tends to lean heavily on domestically-based stars. Rossi, of course, plays his club soccer in Spain.


Whether Rossi does or does not end up in South Africa, the point remains that his decision to play for Italy is beyond reproach. If you found yourself chuckling with the news that a roster omitted him, or hoped that it meant he wouldn't be in South Africa, you should be ashamed. Focus your energy on cheering for the men that do play for the United States rather than hating on those that chose not to.


If you're not guilty of any of that, forget I said anything. Let's just move on...


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Deep Cuts: Extra Extra

Friday, September 25, 2009 | View Comments

The issue of immigration and soccer is bouncing around the internet recently; several articles have come out on the issue in regards to the US National Team. I haven't completely wrapped my head around it all, but it's clearly worth talking about; even more so because it seems the anti-immigration lobby are using the squad to illustrate that immigrants are failing to assimilate.

At least, that's what The Wonk tells us, as they explain that an article I linked to previously was actually a backhanded slap at immigration policy. I had no idea, and failed to realize that the source of the piece, the Center for Immigration Studies, is actually working to reduce immigration. No matter your opinion on the issue (a political sticky wicket I'm not going to muck up a soccer blog with), it's interesting to see soccer, and specifically the National Team, as a focal point in the debate.

  • The new American owner of Italian club Bari has high hopes for Serie A; how an American, Italy's first foreign owner, will fit in there will be an interesting saga to watch. Bari is new promoted, so there shouldn't be the same pitfalls that American owners in England have encountered after taking over massive clubs. Italy has never been a place that Americans go, which is why Livorno's interest in two (Donovan and Clark), and Milan's signing of Oguchi Onyewu this summer was intriguing. With an American owner in Italy, it's possible we'll see more names linked with Serie A.


  • Someone has a solution to the chronic controversy of the amount of added time Manchester United gets at Old Trafford; follow the example of American football. I love when Americans do this, because while there's validity to the suggestion, they often fail to appreciate how resistant to change sports communities typically are. It's why goal line technology is still not in place, why there's no pitch clock in Major League Baseball, and why angst-ridden discussion follows all of those issues. Eventually changes do come, as we're seeing with the end-line official experiment in the Europa league, but I can't imagine significant changes with timekeeping are ever going to be seriously considered.


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USA-Italy Reactions

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 | View Comments
CONFE CUP DONOVAN

A fair result. Italy 3, United States 1 was a fair result, meaning that all of the factors that came to bear in the match dictated that anything different than an Italy victory would have been surprising.

Still, you have to wonder how different things might have been had the US not been forced to play with ten men for sixty-five minutes.

Speaking of the red card, I'm finding it difficult to work up too much anger over it; it could have gone either way, clearly looked like "dangerous play" to me, and was more unfortunate than anything else. If Clark doesn't commit the foul, the referee isn't put in the position of making the call, and the game is allowed to continue as it should have. But Clark was rash no matter your opinion on which card should have been shown, and I just can't get myself worked up over what is essentially a judgement call.

Thankfully, when Jermaine Jones is eligible (and assuming Bradley calls him in) and Maurice Edu back from injury, Ricardo Clark won't be relied upon anymore. I think Clark has potential, though I've always been concerned about his lack of touch; he plays aggressively, and when poor control is combined with aggressive play, fouls and cards are invariably the result.

After the card, nothing else really mattered. I was happy to see the ten that remained work hard and do their best to hang on to the match, but the result was predictable. Donovan played well, Altidore did a few nice things (though he needs to learn that he should shoot first and ask questions later), and several other acquitted themselves admirably.

While I was disappointed in the loss, and even more so in inconsistent officiating (not sure if I can bring it up to rant level, but it does seem odd that referees are consistently tilting things against the US in crucial moments), I'm slightly encouraged by the performance.

The team's not good enough, as currently constituted, to win in Azteca or get out of the World Cup group stage. The turnaround is too quick to make substantial improvement before facing Mexico in August, but there is still time to improve the team ahead of the World Cup. Brazil is the next test. I'm not optimistic about getting any points, but I do hope we see the same kind of effort and commitment (minus the red; thankfully Bradley will be forced play someone else in the midfield) we saw yesterday.

Speaking of that "someone else" in the midfield; while I think many of us would like to see Jose Franciso Torres, I have a funny feeling it will be Sacha Kljestan instead.


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USA-Italy Thoughts to Come

Monday, June 15, 2009 | View Comments
It's been a hell of a day. Not because Italy (predictably) defeated the USMNT 3-1 in Pretoria; no, it's been a hell of a day for me personally. The loss doesn't help, of course, but we all knew it would be a tall order to beat the Azurri. Ricardo Clark's red card made it almost impossible.

I wasn't able to see the game being at work, so I have no thoughts for you yet. By most accounts, the US acquitted themselves well considering the circumstances created by the ejection. I hope to review the match via the magic of DVR when I get home this evening, and a full range of thoughts and emotions should be up on the site at some point later tonight.


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USA-Italy Match Day Afternoon

Monday, June 15, 2009 | View Comments

Just about 90 minutes until kickoff, and while there's not much new on the USMNT front, there does seem to be some fallout over Egypt's performance against Brazil this morning.

I'm one of those that believed that Egypt represented that best chance for a US victory in the Confederations Cup, all the while being wary of what is a very good team. Egypt is not the African champions for nothing, and they proved it today against one of the world's best. Perhaps it was an off night for Brazil, or perhaps Egypt is better than even those of us who did not discount them may have believed.

But should Egypt's rousing 4-3 loss to the South American giants really change our perspective on the potential of an American victory in the final Group B match? Maybe. Egypt looks to be deeper than some thought, and missing Zaki and Mido doesn't seem to have effected their ability to score; that's bad news for the Americans, who's defensive liabilities are well documented.

But let's get back to today's gargantuan task. A morning and early afternoon of tracking the feelings of some of the blogger community (via Twitter), leaves me just a tad depressed. The bottom line remains that an American victory today is so unlikely that it's difficult to ramp up the excitement I would normally feel only hours before a big game. Italy is world class, the US is not. Italy has recognizable and accomplished names at almost every position on the field, the US squad is still full of players who struggle to get playing times at their clubs. On paper, we have no shot.

The cliche goes that the game isn't played on paper. Therein lies just about the only bit of hope I have. If the Americans can play a perfect game, limit mistakes, and catch a break or two on set pieces, they have a chance to get points out of the match. Otherwise, we're staring down the barrel at a convincing defeat, and although there is not shame in that (Italy are the defending World Cup champions, after all), it's just a depressing idea.

I'm working on it, I really am. I may not be optimistic, and I usually despise the "realist" attitude when it comes to rooting on my teams, but it's hard not to be excited, even just a little, about the USA playing Italy in the Confederations Cup.

Just a little over an hour until kickoff now. Come on boys, do us proud.


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USA-Italy Match Day Morning

Monday, June 15, 2009 | View Comments

I have no planned direction for this post, just thought I would get a few thoughts out before the day gets ramped up. I'll be doing my best (like most, I would assume) to follow the USMNT's showdown with Italy today at 2:30 ET on ESPN from work; the effort involves dodgy internet streams, supreme multi-tasking and the ability to avoid yelling at the computer and drawing attention to myself.

Let's hope I succeed.

As for the match, I have absolutely no idea what to expect. Just about the only thing we can be reasonably sure if is that the match will be physical. Anything after that is pure speculation. The recent form of the US isn't exactly encouraging, so I'd be lying if I said I was confident of a good performance. It's difficult to both care about the result, be entirely unbiased, and manage to squeeze out a prediction that's actually based in reality.

But I'm going to try.

Publicly stating predictions is a double-edged sword; overly optimistic, and I'm the blind homer idiot, the guy who doesn't seem to understand USMNT history or ability. Overly pessimistic, and I tarnish my experience of rooting for the team because I'm showing a lack of faith. Somewhere in the middle seems the safest route, but that's smacks of a cop out, a way to avoid both of the aformentioned circumstances.

Oh well, because that's what I'm doing. The match is likely to come down to a few crucial moments anyway (but don't they all?), so I'm splitting down the middle. I think we'll see a draw today, 1-1, and my completely random guess on the loan American goal is Clint Dempsey.

Why not? Clint is a good player who has struggled a bit for the Nats, but he's as good a name as any.

No matter my poorly chosen prediction, my even more poorly chosen player to score, or my conflicted feelings on the match, I'm excited to watch the Americans play against top-level competition.

Now I have to get some work done so I won't be too busy to follow along this afternoon.

Feel free to share your thoughts on what you think will happen in the comments below. What's your sense of the match, and do you think that the Americans can get a good result?


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