United States Women vs. Italy: Halftime, 0-0

Italy will be the happier of the two sides at halftime, with the two teams going into the locker room knotted up at 0-0. Italy have executed their gameplan to near perfection, defending in a conservative 4-5-1 setup and keeping the United States from creating a high volume of goal scoring opportunities.

The best opportunity of the half came around a half hour into the match when Amy Rodriguez put a shot from inside the six yard box right into the stomach of the Italian keeper. It was a clear chance and she really should have done quite a bit better. Rodriguez has been plagued by poor finishing throughout the fall for the national team after a fantastic campaign in WPS.

Rodriguez isn’t the only player not playing up to her standards so far today. Other controversial, but expected selections Carli Lloyd and Heather Mitts have also struggled. The United States has also failed to get the ball to two of their best players, Abby Wambach and Heather O’Reilly, on a regular basis. Megan Rapinoe has also been a slight disappointment. The defense outside of Mitts, though, has been superb. In particular, Amy Lepeilbet has probably been the best player on the pitch.

Curiously, many of the options for potentially replacing Lloyd were left off of the United States’ 18 player squad for today. Lori Lindsey is available, but neither Yael Averbuch or Lindsey Tarpley made the bench.

The central defenders of the United States, along with Shannon Boxx seem to be able to shut down Italy’s counter-attacks effectively, so the U.S. would likely be better served in the second half with a faster tempo and a more aggressive style of play. Oh, and getting the ball to Abby once in a while might help.