Italy vs USA Prediction: What should we expect from this game?

Italy's head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco started tearing his clothes off a few years ago after an important win in a rush of passion. Nowadays, he won't have to.

It's not very interesting how Italy went to the quarterfinals, how much they scored, and how much they conceded - now they have to play the USA. Nothing like this happened to the Italian national team at this World Cup.

There is a temptation to write that the Italians have a good defense, which reduces the average performance of opponents. Still, it did not always happen - with Serbia, Puerto Rico, and Angola, it worked, but the Philippines, especially the Dominican Republic, scored many goals for the Italians.

Well, maybe something interesting can be found in Italy's offense - in four out of five games, they have scored 82 points or less. They are averaging less than 81 points per game. Let's see if the American defense can do it.

Indeed, the Americans are averaging 79 and a half points per game, and only Lithuania managed to score more than 82, and that was in a game that the US team seemed desperate to lose.

These teams last met in 2006 at the World Cup in Japan. The Italians lost quite handily, by only nine points, even though they were opposed by none other than Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard. Marco Belinelli fought like a lion and scored 25 points. Maybe Fontecchio will distinguish himself, too.

We think Italy will win, but they will probably only be able to win at the start of the match.