DUISBURG, Germany - If the United States considers its next game "war," Italy
is ready.
Even if the Azzurri believe statements made by U.S. forward Eddie Johnson
were a little over the top.
"We'll do our talking on the field. That's what we're here to do," forward
Vincenzo Iaquinta said Thursday. "But if they consider it war, then it will be
war for us, too."
The American team was to spend Thursday and Friday nights at Ramstein Air
Base outside Kaiserslautern, where the United States plays Italy on Saturday.
Johnson said Wednesday that he hoped some of the troops' spirit would
transfer over to the U.S. team.
"It's like us in the World Cup. We're here for a war," the 22-year-old
forward said. "We came here to battle, we came here to represent our country."
The Americans are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic and need a win
to avoid elimination. Italy opened with a comfortable 2-0 win over Ghana in
Group E.
"A war seems a bit exaggerated but we'll prepare ourselves appropriately,"
striker Alberto Gilardino said. "We're not underestimating any of our opponents.
This is the game of their lives. We have to go out and play our game to bring
home three points."
Gilardino added that he thought "Johnson was only referring to the
competitive aspect of war."
Johnson was asked whether he was comparing a sporting event to a war.
"Yeah," he responded. "Whenever you put your jersey on and you look at your
crest and the national anthem's going on, and you're playing against a different
country, it's like you do or die, it's survival of the (fittest) over 90
minutes-plus. We're going to go out there and do whatever we've got to do, make
tackles, do the things when the referee's not looking. ... to get three points."
The war in Iraq was widely unpopular in Italy and new Italian Premier Romano
Prodi is working out a timetable for pulling Italy's troops out of Iraq by
year's end.
Previous premier Silvio Berlusconi, a strong ally of President Bush, sent in
some 3,000 troops to help with reconstruction after the ouster of Saddam
Hussein. More than half that number of Italian soldiers are still in Iraq.
"We know they'll be watching and want to do well for them, too," Gilardino
said.
Extra security is being prepared for the game.
"I hope it's not a game at risk, the stadium will be full and our families
will be there, too," Gilardino said.
Email Story
