New Jersey-born Rossi helps Italy rally to beat US 3-1 at Confederations Cup

Italy rallies to beat US 3-1 at Confederations Cup

PRETORIA, South Africa — Three goals were scored by American-born players. Two of those goals counted for Italy.

New Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi scored twice in the second half, Daniele De Rossi had a goal and Italy rallied to overcome a Landon Donovan penalty kick and beat the United States 3-1 Monday night in its opener at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

“I dedicate the goals to my family, who are watching the game on TV in America,” Rossi said. “This is a dream, I’m playing for the world champions, and I also hope to become a world champion next year.”

The U.S. played a man short after Ricardo Clark was ejected in the 33rd minute for a late tackle on Gennaro Gattuso, but went ahead eight minutes later when Donovan scored his American-record 40th international goal after Giorgio Chiellini hooked and kicked Jozy Altidore.

Rossi grew up in Clifton but moved to Italy to play for Parma’s youth team before joining Manchester United. After going to both Newcastle and Parma on loan, United sold him to Spain’s Villarreal before the 2007-8 season.

The 22-year-old Rossi scored four goals at last summer’s Olympics. He made his debut with the senior Italian national team last October as a substitute against Bulgaria and scored his first international goal on June 6, putting Italy ahead in a 3-0 exhibition win over Northern Ireland.

“Certainly it would have been our hope that Giuseppe played for the U.S., but he made his decision and he’s a very talented player, and today was a very exciting day for him,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said.

Rossi entered in the 57th minute and tied the score a minute later with a 30-yard shot after stripping the ball from Benny Feilhaber.

“If you’re playing against the team which is the country where you are born, it’s always a great emotion coming in,” Rossi said. “But when you’re on the field you have no plan. You just think about playing the game and trying to win your game.”

He got his second goal in the fourth minute of injury time from about 10 yards after Andrea Pirlo went around defender Jay DeMerit and crossed.

“Rossi gave us a burst of energy,” Italy coach Marcello Lippi said. “He scored a great goal that calmed us down psychologically with a half hour still to go, and then he finished the game off. He offers different characteristics.”

De Rossi, ejected and banned for four matches for elbowing Brian McBride in the face when the teams met in the 2006 World Cup, put Italy ahead 2-1 in the 72nd with a 15-yard shot that bounced by defender Oguchi Onyewu and beat goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Bradley and his players were unhappy with Chilean referee Pablo Pozo’s decision to give the red card to Clark, saying the foul should have been merely a yellow card.

“The red card made all the difference,” Donovan said. “Eleven guys from each team were prepared and ready to play the game, and the guy in the middle with the whistle wasn’t.”

Preparing for next year’s World Cup in South Africa, the U.S. brought most of its top players to this eight-nation tournament. The United States, which qualified by winning the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, plays South American champion Brazil on Thursday and closes the first round against African champion Egypt on Sunday. The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals.

In Monday’s other game, Brazil beat Egypt 4-3 on a disputed 90th-minute penalty kick by Kaka, his second goal of the match.

Before looking ahead to the matchup with Brazil, U.S. players lingered on the loss to Italy.

“It was a little harsh that we didn’t get something out of that game,” midfielder DaMarcus Beasley said. “But Italy are world champions. You have to do a little extra to beat them.”