A Historic Win: Clint Dempsey Seals America’s First Win Against Italy

The US National Team made history in Genoa, beating Italy for the first time, 1-0, in an international friendly on Wednesday.

The Americans arrived the underdogs, facing calcio giants Italy and failing to win any of the last 10 meet-ups between the teams. The underdogs had an advantage or two in ‘keeper Tim Howard, who has put in nothing but solid performances for both club and country, as well as in attacking midfielder Clint Dempsey, who has been undeniably on fire this season with Fulham, scoring 16 goals in all competitions thus far.

Italy, after a disappointing show in the World Cup and a loss to Uruguay in the fall, were hungry for a win in advance of this summer’s Euros. The Azzurri played without injured strikers Antonio Cassano and Guiseppe Rossi. Mario Balotelli’s recent temper issues saw to it that he was left off the roster. This was an Italy in transition, it would seem, with mainstays like Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon starting alongside Sebastian Giovinco and Alessandro Matri.

Prandelli’s attacking line-up seemed to be working as the Azzurri almost scored 5 minutes in, Maggio feeding the ball to Motta, whose close range shot was saved by Howard. The Azzurri continued to attack, with Giovinco’s strike in the 19^th minute proving an easy save for Howard.

Sebastian Giovinco battles it out with Captain America, Carlos Bocanegra.

The US, on the other hand, seemed limited to long range shots for some time, Marice Edu’s forceful strike from 30 yards going wide.

Again, the Italians attacked, Pirlo setting up Criscito, and again, Howard saved.  Anyone seeing a theme here?

The 38’ saw Clint Dempsey make USA’s first strong effort, his 30 yard shot being blocked by Buffon.

The dying minutes of the first half saw Howard deny (surprise, surprise) another attempt by Motta.

America wasted little time in the second half, taking the lead in the 55^th minute. Jozy Altidore, keeping with his overall marvelous performance, expertly controlled a well place cross from Fabian Johnson before setting up Clint Dempsey. Deuce didn’t hesitate, scoring from 10 yards and putting USA ahead 1-0.

Clint Dempsey celebrates his winning goal.

Prandelli brought on striker Giampaulo Pazzini and forward Fabio Borini, making his Italy debut, in the 60^th minute. The pair certainly made some difference, Pazzini finding Borini, who took a shot from 10 yards away only to have it saved by Howard. Pazzini himself took a wide shot, wasting another chance to equalize.

The match’s dying seconds saw Montolivo fire just wide of Howard’s goal.

The Americans left Genoa in high spirits, winning their first match against giants Italy and their fourth in a row under manager Jurgen Klinsmann, with Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, and Tim Howard all putting in solid performances. Italy, on the other hand, were left insodisfatto, suffering their second loss in a row, despite maintaining possession 61% of the time.

The USMNT is back in action in another international friendly against Scotland on May 26, while the Azzurri will face Russia in a friendly on June 1 before delving into the European Championships.

written by Yasmien Mizyed