ROME, June 18 (Reuters) - Italy's sports press hit out at
the national team and coach Marcello Lippi on Sunday after the
Italians were held to a 1-1 World Cup draw by the United States
in a match marred by three red cards.
'An Italy of madmen,' ran the headline on the front page of
Corriere dello Sport, which went on to describe its players as
'confused and nervous'.
'Italy did little, too little in the whole of the second
half,' it added. 'It seemed like they (the USA) had an extra
man. Something had gone wrong for sure.'
Italy took the lead in Saturday night's game through Alberto
Gilardino, but had to settle for a point after defender Cristian
Zaccardo sliced the ball into his own net in the first half.
Both sides finished the first half with 10 men after the
sendings off of Italian Daniele De Rossi and American Pablo
Mastroeni. Italy failed to take advantage of their numerical
superiority following the 47th-minute dismissal of defender
Eddie Pope.
Papers criticised coach Marcello Lippi for his tactics and
substitutions against nine men. It also blasted De Rossi, shown
the red card for a blatant elbow on U.S. striker Brian McBride.
'It can't pass unobserved the numerical superiority that the
Azzurri should have taken advantage of during the second half,'
Tuttosport said.
'De Rossi has enormous responsibilities and Lippi would do
well to shut the door on his World Cup,' it said.
'Apart from the suspension, De Rossi should finish his days
in Germany on the bench.'
The Italian press had hoped the team would show
sportsmanship at the World Cup which comes when the game at home
is being rocked by a corruption scandal.
Even the more moderate Gazzetta dello Sport struggled to
take positives from a match which it called a 'cold shower after
the victory (over Ghana) in the opening match'.
'Looking at the (Group E) standings, with Italy top with
four points, one could even talk about a small step forwards,
but from the point of view of Italy's image and their game their
performance represents a worrying double step backwards.'
