The Hindu : Sport / Football : U.S. takes on Italy

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Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005

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U.S. takes on Italy

ENSCHEDE (Netherlands): With his Italian roots, Patrick Ianni's hero has always been AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini. Now he's got a chance to take on Maldini's commanding role — against Italy.

Ianni has led a robust U.S. defence that hasn't conceded a goal at the World Youth Championship — even against powerhouses Argentina and Germany — and faces Italy on Tuesday with a quarterfinal berth at stake.

``It's going to be an exciting one, especially because of the nationality,'' said Ianni, whose grandparents come from Turin and Milan. ``I'm looking forward to playing them. We are all ready to rock.''

The Americans will need to produce some offense if they hope to play the winner of Morocco and Japan on Friday.

``We haven't got many goals yet, but the floodgates are about to open here pretty soon,'' Ianni said.

Billed as one of the stars at the tournament, U.S. forward Freddy Adu has been limited to one assist in three matches and wasn't happy with his form in the 1-0 win against Egypt.

U.S. coach Sigi Schmid rested several players for the match and wasn't too concerned about the lacklustre performance. Neither did he pay heed to Italy's poor form so far. The Italians lost two of their three games and only qualified for the round-of-16 as a third-placed finisher. But Italian teams traditionally improve after the opening stage. ``They make it difficult for you,'' Schmid said. ``Even on their worst day they make it difficult for you.''

The U.S. team is expected to try and deny the Italians space by physically pressuring them and closely marking their top scoring threat, Graziano Pelle.

The U.S. team's Manchester United defender, Jonathan Spector, sustained a thigh bruise against tournament favorite Argentina and is in doubt for Tuesday's game. — AP

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