Italy 1
United States 1

Italy and the United States slugged out a bruising 1-1 draw in the most controversial match of the World Cup so far in which three players were sent off in their Group E clash last night.

Alberto Gilardino's opener for Italy was cancelled out by an own goal from Cristian Zaccardo, but the real talking point of an explosive match was a World Cup record-equalling three red cards shown by Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda.

There have been three dismissals in three previous World Cup finals matches - 1938 Brazil vs Czechoslovakia, 1954 Brazil vs Hungary and 1998 Denmark vs South Africa.

The US finished with nine men and Italy with 10. The Italians, so impressive in their 2-0 win over Ghana, were hustled and harried out of their stride in the opening stages as the Americans looked to make up for their dismal 3-0 defeat by Czech Republic.

Roared on by thousands of star spangled fans, many no doubt from the American air force bases scattered around the local countryside, the US twice went close to taking the lead but midfielders Bobby Convey and Clint Dempsey failed to hit the target.

It was against the run of play when the Azzurri took the lead after 22 minutes when striker Gilardino dived to head in Andrea Pirlo's inviting free-kick.

Any thoughts that Italy would hit the cruise control button were soon dispelled, however, as they self-destructed spectacularly in the space of a minute.

After 27 minutes the Americans were gifted an equaliser when Convey's cross was sliced into his own net by Zaccardo.

Things got even worse for Italy a minute later when Daniele De Rossi was sent off for a blatant elbow on Brian McBride right in front of the referee.

Pablo Mastroeni almost gave the Americans the lead with a dipping shot from 25 metres after 42 minutes, only to be shown a straight red card seconds before the interval for a scything foul on Pirlo.

The fireworks continued immediately after the break when referee Larrionda pulled out his red card for the third time when Eddie Pope, who had already been booked, lunged in from behind on Gilardino.

With any semblance of pre-match systems and tactics already in tatters, the action swung from end to end like a basketball match.

Carlos Bocanegra headed a 52nd minute Pirlo free-kick against his own bar and, at the other end, substitute DaMarcus Beasley had a goal disallowed for offside after Gianluigi Buffon had allowed his shot to squeeze under his body.

Italy were effectively playing with nine men as Simone Perrotta was hobbling and all three substitutes had been used but they carved out the best chances.

Left-back Gianluca Zambrotta curled a shot just wide of Kasey Keller's goal before the in-form US keeper made an instinctive save to keep out a volley by substitute Alessandro Del Piero while Gilardino also went close with a header.

Cherundolo praises US performance

US defender Steve Cherundolo praised the resilience shown by the United States yesterday.

"There was a lot going on out there tonight with all those red cards. If we had a performance like this in our first match I think we could have got points there too," he said.

Asked about the American red cards, he said: "In my view, they weren't deserved but we have to live with it.

"We had our backs to the wall. We knew if we didn't get a result we'd be out. We wanted to pull something off and showed we could do it. We want to have the same kind of performance level against Ghana and get a few more scoring chances."

Gennaro Gattuso said his team had not been at their best after their 2-0 win over Ghana in the first game.

"We weren't brilliant. It just goes to show how you've got to keep your feet on the ground, even after winning your first match," he told reporters.

Italy: 1-Buffon; 2-Zaccardo (7-Del Piero 55), 13-Nesta, 5-Cannavaro, 19-Zambrotta; 4-De Rossi, 21-Pirlo, 20-Perrotta; 10-Totti (8-Gattuso 35); 9-Toni (15-Iaquinta 61), 11-Gilardino.

United States: 18-Keller; 6-Cherundolo, 22-Onyewu, 23-Pope, 3-Bocanegra; 8-Dempsey (17-Beasley 62), 10-Reyna, 4-Mastroeni, 15-Convey (13-Conrad 52); 21-Donovan, 20-McBride.

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay).

Scorers: Gilardino 22; Zaccardo og 27.

Red cards: De Rossi 28; Mastroeni 45; Pope 47.

Half-time: 1-1.

Att: 46,000.