United States ties Italy, stays alive

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- They lumbered from end to end, desperate to stop the blue surge of Italians and salvage their World Cup.\nTwo U.S. players had been ejected. What could have been the winning goal was disallowed.\nAnd in the end, with players dropping to field in exhaustion, the United States managed a wild 1-1 tie Saturday night that gave the Americans their first-ever World Cup point in Europe and a chance to advance to the tournament's second round.\nThey'll need a win and some help, but the Americans are still players on the World Cup stage. Even if they needed an own-goal to tie the Italians.\n"This team is alive, and that's where we wanted to be," goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. "It was a total team effort, and those guys bled today for our country and our team."\nHe wasn't exaggerating.\nForward Brian McBride had three stitches on one cheek from a vicious elbow. A bandage covered where Landon Donovan received intravenous fluid. Jimmy Conrad had cotton stuffed up his nose, also the result of an elbow, and played part of the game with vision so blurry he had to ask a teammate whether he was bleeding.\n"A roller-coaster," Clint Dempsey called it.\nHarshly criticized for lackluster and nervous play in their opener, the Americans came out strong, winning the ball and living in Italy's half of the field.\nBut then Alberto Gilardino got behind the defense and headed Andrea Pirlo's free kick past Keller in the 22nd minute. The Americans tied the score in the 27th when Italy defender Cristian Zaccardo knocked Bobby Convey's free kick into the net as he tried to clear the ball before it reached McBride.\nWhen the whistle blew, the American players went to a corner of the field to salute the thousands of fans in red, white and blue who made a stadium near several U.S. military bases feel like a home field.\n"They were behind us, in front us, to the side of us. They were everywhere," defender Oguchi Onyewu said. "It definitely lifted us and gave us that extra push."\nEntering the day, it appeared the Americans would need a win. But in the earlier game, Ghana upset the Czechs 2-0. The result complicated a group that after the first games seemed clear.\nItaly (1-0-1) leads with four points, one ahead of the Czechs and Ghana (both 1-1) and three ahead of the Americans (0-1-1).\nFor the United States to reach the round of 16, it must win, coupled with an Italian victory over the Czechs. Or Italy would have to tie the Czechs along with a U.S. victory by at least four goals, and maybe more. The U.S. also could advance if Italy loses depending on how the Americans fare in tiebreakers.\nThe draw was a milestone in U.S. soccer history. The Americans were 0-8 in World Cup games played in Europe, and they had never gotten even a single point in Europe in any match against the big five nations of Italy, England, Germany, Spain and France.\nFor a few brief seconds, it even appeared the United States had gone ahead in the 66th minute, when second-half sub DaMarcus Beasley slotted the ball in off goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. But with American coach Bruce Arena pumping an arm on the sideline, the whistle blew for an offside call on McBride, who had screened Buffon.\nKeller then made the save of the night, jumping to his right to palm away a short shot by a wide-open Alessandro Del Piero, who had gotten a chip from Pirlo. Keller made another outstanding stop on Del Piero in the 79th.\n"It was," Keller said, "a crazy game"