U.S. still alive

OK. Haven't had a chance to talk about the World Cup and the U.S. team's 1-1 tie with Italy on Saturday.

Unfortunately, didn't get to actually see the game. Was at Alan's wedding. Taking pictures. With a TV. Without cable or a remote or ABC. So no U.S.-Italy game. But I've seen highlights, listened to analysts and read recaps.

From the best I can gather, the Americans played inspired football. They went toe-to-toe with one of the world's best, a European superpower on European soil, where the Yanks never perform well. Remember, this is the same Italy team that many predicted as one of the top 2-3 favorites along with Brazil to win the whole dang thing.

Here's what ESPN.com's Michael Davies wrote in his Page 2 blog after the game:

"An incomparable performance by the U.S. national team in the modern era. And listen to those fans. Football just arrived in America, I think. The players and fans played and cheered with the true passion of a footballing superpower. The U.S. may not win this World Cup, they may not even qualify for the next round, but this performance continues to lay the groundwork for the future."

As bad as things were in the opening loss to the Czechs -- and they were downright awful -- they were much better against Italy. For nearly the entire second half, the U.S. played a man down (thanks to some questionable officiating), and yet the Yanks still outplayed Italy. They had their chances, plenty of them and didn't convert. In fact, they only converted thanks to an own goal by the Italians.

But keeper Kasey Keller was magnificent. He did what world-class goalkeepers do -- he took away a goal or two and kept his team in the game. Bruce Arena's decision-making was brilliant, and all of his changes worked. It would have been huge to come away with the 3 points from the win, but the 1 point from the tie -- couple with Ghana's win over the Czechs -- means the U.S. is still alive. All they need is a win over Ghana and an Italian win over the Czechs.

Now Bruce must face some tough decisions. Defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni is out, thanks to a questionable red card. So, too, is central defender Eddie Pope, who was sent off with two yellow cards, the second of which was a harmless tackle that might not have even been a foul, much less deserving of a card. However, the cards came. And now the U.S. must face Ghana's attack without 2 of its 3 best central defenders.

So what does Arena do? Most likely, he'll shift Carlos Bocanegra from left back into the central defense to replace Pope, then reinsert Eddie Lewis at left back. Oguchi Onweyu, who made up for his inauspicious debut with a brilliant performance against Italy, will anchor the backline, while Steve Cherundolo will once again get the call at right back.

Will the U.S. go back with a 4-4-2 or stick with the 4-5-1. In my eyes, you have to award Eddie Johnson with a start up top after not doing so against Italy. Pair him with Brian McBride up top. Then in the center you are faced with some major dilemmas. Bobby Convey and Clint Dempsey both showed they were deserving of starting on the left and right sides of the midfield, while DaMarcus Beasley looked like a different player coming off the bench. I think you go with that same lineup. Then you have 3 attacking midfielders in Landon Donovan, Claudio Reyna and John O'Brien who all have a claim to start. You could go with 2 of the 3 and push either Reyna or O'Brien to defensive mid in place of Mastroeini, leaving you with a weakness on defense. Or you could insert Ben Olsen at defensive mid and choose one of the 3 -- Landon, Claudio or O'Brien. It's hard to envision 2 of those 3 not being on the field. Which means Eddie Johnson might be left out again in favor of a 4-5-1.

It will be interesting to see what direction Arena takes. But no matter what, the U.S. faces a must-win situation. A tie does no good. And Ghana will bring it. They are sky-high after the win over the Czechs and a win advances them to the Round of 16. Thursday morning at 8 a.m. It's must-see TV.