Oh what could have been

The one that got away came back to bury the Men's National Team. Giuseppe Rossi, born and raised in New Jersey, decided to ply his footballing wares for Italy, land of his parents. Rossi came on in the 56th minute, replacing Gattuso, signaling Italy's slight desperation as coach Lippi had to find some goals to make up for the 1-0 deficit.

Clearly Italy were the better squad on the night but the good news for the US - although not for the tournament - is that Italy did not bull rush the US off the field. The final 3-1 scoreline was justified but the US could have done better with some finishing of their own.

In the first half, Jozy Altidore missed a 1-on-1 with keeper Buffon, deciding to try to square a pass back to Donovan and winding up mishitting the ball altogether. Later in the half, Donovan had the ball, streaking through a crowd of Italian defenders. It would be uncharitable to say he should have kept the ball but it is definitely fair to say that he had little chance of keeping it. Once again, finishing plays was what kept the US from putting paid to Italy's lapses, exactly as in the 2006 World Cup. In effect, Italy's 21-yr-old did what the MNT's 19-yr-old was unable to do - take the shot and score.

And once again, the US is exposed for not being able to create opportunities, to make something from nothing. Both De Rossi (he of the '06 elbow that bloodied Brian McBride) and Rossi took their shots from 30-35 yards away. They had an opening, and took measured shots, on goal, that beat Howard.

This is something that the MNT is categorically unable to do. They still rely on set pieces, penalties and follow-up shots to score their goals. Long-range shots tend to be wildly off the mark, Feilhaber's wonder goal to help beat Mexico in the 2007 Gold Cup notwithstanding. Yes, most of the time long-range shots from any player in any shirt will be wide of the mark. Paul Scholes, for instance, has shot enough balls way off goal to fill a bank of stands.

But for the better players, the do put away at least some of their 25+ yard shots to make them dangerous. For the US, there is no one with that consistent capability. That means that defenders can simply collapse on MNT attackers, knowing that our players will be forced to pass, which can be intercepted. At best, it pushes the shot further back, with low odds of being on target.

How do we fix this? The MNT needs more one-touch passing, accurate one-touch passing, in order to open up defenders. Scoring opportunities need to be more quickly identified - once the space is noticed, it's too late, as international defenders know to close down open space. Anticipating the opening is what's being missed. Better on the ball skills, so that 1-on-1 opportunities can be better exploited.

But some of that is inherent, unteachable. What can be taught, however, are spot kicks. If MNT is not dedicating a significant portion of their training sessions to free kicks on target, over and over and over again, then they should be. If they are, they need to do more. No, it's not easy, but it is learnable. Not hundreds of free kicks but thousands.

The US MNT can play with the Big Boys of Football, but they have yet to learn how to win against the Big Boys, consistently.

And a little luck from referee decisions would help. The red card against Rico Clark was borderline. The kick to Gattuso's knee was part of Clark's challenge - clearly reckless and perhaps excessive. But two minutes after Clark was sent off, Donovan was elbowed in the jaw by Grosso, with only a caution to the Italian. Elbows to the head are much more serious than kicks to the knee, especially when the elbow is used to create space, as it was in this case. It was a poor decision not to send off Grosso.

Late in the second half, with Italy still up only one goal, a cross was made to Donovan, who was in the penalty area. The Italian defender, Legrotagglia, thought Landon was a ladder, climbing all over Landon's back to win the ball (see pic above). A clear penalty but no call was made. Ten minutes later, the Azzuri scored their third goal.

Italy deserved the win, clearly the better side. The US would have been lucky to get a point. The fact remains, however, that playing a man down for nearly an hour and then not getting a penalty that should have been made it nearly a foregone conclusion.

Worst of all, the US has improved since 2006 but not enough.