Wow, talk about an entertaining day in 2006 World Cup soccer. The USA tied Italy 1-1 in today's match in Kaiserslautern. The first half was probably the most entertaining half of soccer I have ever seen before. The referee was calling everything, including picking your nose. It was just ridiculous. Italy lost the first player to a red card, Daniele De Rossi, who blatantly threw an elbow in to the face of Brian McBride. The US lost two crucial players, Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope. I think any one watching this game knows that it was a physical match, but some of the calls were a bit unjustified. Even though Italy scored the first goal, and scored on their own goal to give the US team their only point, the US played a vastly different match than their previous one against the Czech Republic. The US was agressive and made a lot of attempts to score, which was basically the opposite of how they played against the Czechs.

Also, Ghana shocked the world, defeating the Czech Republic 2-0 today. It's the first World Cup victory for the African nation, and definitely some good news for the US team. The group standings are very close now, and there is still a good chance for the USA to advance to the next round.

This is what has to happen for the USA to advance:
- USA defeats Ghana on Thursday June 22, 2006
- Italy defeats Czech Republic on Thursday June 22, 2006

If these two matches end in the USA's favor, than we will finish Group E in second place. The second place team will go on to play the First place team of Group F. This means it is likely that if the US advances they will be playing the winner of the Australia vs. Brazil match on Sunday.

USA! USA! USA!