Things in Italy are worse than we thought.
That was one of the less expected but nonetheless obvious takeaways from the United States’ eminently comfortable 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night in the round of 32 at the World Cup.
Because somehow, this very pedestrian Bosnian team got into the World Cup at Italy’s expense.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side deserve credit for not making the match harder than it had to be, even with Folarin Balogun’s unfortunate red card.
That’s far from a given at a World Cup, even for the big boys. Just ask Spain, which settled for a draw in its opening match against Cape Verde, or England, which had to fight from 1-0 down against DR Congo for their round of 32 win.
And it was particularly impressive that the Americans didn’t appear rattled by Balogun’s 65th-minute dismissal, even if it meant they would have a bit less of the ball in the late going.
But if you were going to describe Bosnia’s attacking desire after going behind, you might liken it to their attitude toward possessing Adriatic coastline. Sure, they have a little. Other countries have a lot more.
That Italy lost a World Cup qualifying playoff to this pedestrian outfit — even on penalties — is truly a damning indictment of the part of the physical and intellectual soccer world that calls it Calcio.
Yet maybe that’s fitting in a tournament where it feels like the whole Italian way of playing (read: aggressively conservative) is going by the wayside.
Bosnia may have out-Catenaccioed the Azzurri to reach their second World Cup, with the help of penalties and a first-half red card to Alessandro Bastoni in their playoff pathway final. But their progression to the knockout phase came primarily because of an exceptionally friendly group draw that featured zero opponents in the top 15 of the FIFA World Rankings, and only one in the top 25.
Ecuador entered as a popular dark-horse pick among pundits after their 19-match unbeaten run, despite scoring only once in their last five qualifying matches. They left as a fully exposed fraud that had leaned far too long on the 36-year-old Enner Valencia as a primary attacking threat.
And for all the pleasantness of their fans, Scotland were punished for their particularly dour tactics under now-former manager Steve Clarke, when they boasted a squad that should’ve been capable of more imagination.
Conversely, the game’s attacking stars are seemingly all enjoying banner tournaments, led by Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, who have an astonishing 22 goals between them.
The Americans don’t have anyone on that level. But they do have enough talent collectively that, under the right guidance, they can express a vision of the game that collectively mirrors the artistry and optimism conjured by those individuals.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has provided the necessary combination of structure and freedom, and they’ve responded so far, albeit against relatively limited opposition.
Other sides have also been rewarded for similar adventurousness. Even the upstart surprises that have exceeded expectations — like Cape Verde and DR Congo — have done so by offering more in the way of attacking endeavor than many expected.
For the Americans, the challenges will quickly ramp up in difficulty. Belgium looms next in the round of 16, and heavily fancied Spain could be after that in a potential quarterfinal. And win or lose, it will begin to feel more like the World Cups of recent past vintage that we’re more familiar with.
Just without Italy in the picture. And based on the evidence available, that’s probably for the best.
