World Cup Blog | Bill Saporito This Could Be A Monster Of A Game subscribe to TIME email this story Bill Saporito: Read all his blog entries Italy: Too Soon For A Soccer Amnesty

Posted Saturday, June 17, 2006: 17.05BST
The road from the U.S. team's headquarters in Hamburg to its second World Cup match in Kaiserslautern leads through Frankenstein, Germany. At least mine did. Frankenstein turns out to be a pleasant little burg in the beautiful Rhine Valley wine country. But it also provides a fitting metaphor?

The American team is going to have to have a monster game to avoid elimination at the hands of a revitalized Italian team. At a pre-game press conference, American Claudio Reyna called on his teammates to be focused and competitive for 19 minutes. In their first game against the Czech Republic, an early lapse led to a Czech goal, and the U.S., dazed and confused, was never in it again. The Americans will need much better performances out of Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, who were uncharacteristically passive against the Czechs, and goalkeeper Casey Keller, who was one of the best backstops in the German Bundesliga this year, will need to show it.

Reyna said the team needed a day or two to put the loss behind them, but that they had practiced well and had looked forward to the game with Italy. Certainly, there should be an ample American presence in the Fritz Walter Stadion. Kaiserslautern is smack in the middle of a couple of massive American military bases. The U.S. team, in fact, is staying at Rammstein Air Force Base, which by the way should take care of any security issues as well.

Defending against the Italians, however, is another matter. Not much had much had been expected of this Azzurri going into the tournament. Italian soccer has been in the throes of an enormous scandal in its top league, the prestigious Serie A, with allegations of fixed games, fixed referees assignments and even tainted player deals. Italy's top teams, Juventus N and AC Milan, are neck-deep in it (Imagine the Yankees and Red Sox being accused of fixing games). A massive investigation is under way. Yet the Italian players have used the scandal as a rallying point. And in their 2-0 win over Ghana in their first game, looked like the powerhouse counter-attacking Azzurri of old. Their top striker, Francesco Totti, limped off injured against Ghana, but he is expected to play today, and even if he doesn't, Italy has other options.

The U.S., on the other hand, has none. A loss here today sends them home, early.

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