The U.S. national team had a chance pull even with every team in its World Cup group with a win over Italy, but a 1-1 draw leaves the team with hope of making the second round. (Skip to more about how the U.S. can advance.)

The game was tied at the half and both teams were down to 10 men after a pair of ejections and an own-goal from Italy. Early in the second half, the U.S. was reduced to nine men when defender Eddie Pope received his second yellow card of the match.

However, the U.S. was able to create a few chances -- including an apparent goal by substitute DaMarcus Beasley that was correctly called back. Italy also had several scoring opportunities, but was twice denied by Kasey Keller.

From the opening, the U.S. came out with a more aggressive attitude than in its opening loss against the Czech Republic, and controlled much of the play. However, in the 22nd minute, Alberto Girlardino headed in a free kick from Andrea Pirlo to give Italy a lead.

Five minutes later, the U.S. pulled level. A free kick from the right wing missed U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra's head, and was inadvertently knocked in by Christian Zaccardo.

Soon after that, Italy lost a man for the rest of the match. Daniele DeRossi threw an album into the face of Brian McBride, cutting him open. He was immediately shown the red card, meaning he was ejected and cannot be replaced.

But late in the half, the U.S. was also put down a man. Pablo Mastroeni slid in for a routine-looking tackle, but was ejected as well.

The other starters for the U.S. were Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Claudio Reyna, Bobby Convey, McBride and Landon Donovan. Jimmy Conrad was also brought in as a substitute in the second half after Pope was ejected.

Ultimately, the U.S. team and fans will likely be much more satisfied. A draw against world power Italy is always respectable, more so after the two ejections. And all four teams in Group E have a chance to advance based on results of simultaneous games June 22.

Italy has won three World Cups (1934, 1938 and 1982) and reached the final in the U.S. in 1994, losing to Brazil in a shootout.

It won its World Cup opener 2-0 over Ghana.

How To Advance

A 2-0 win by Ghana over the Czech Republic earlier on Saturday improved U.S. chances of advancing, and Saturday's tie makes the situation clear.

Here are the standings after Saturday's matches:
Italy, 4 pts
Czech Republic, 3 pts
Ghana, 3 pts
USA, 1 pt

To have any shot of advancing, the U.S. needs to win, which would put it at 4 points.

In that scenario, it's simple: Italy beats the Czechs, and Italy and the U.S. go through.

However, there is a slight chance if Italy and the Czechs draw. A U.S. win would put them on four points with the Czechs. However, the first tiebreaker is goal differential. Right now, the Czechs are at +1 (and would remain there) and the U.S. is at -3. Since the second tiebreaker -- head-to-head results -- goes against the U.S., it needs a four-goal win to advance.

Also, if the Czechs win and the U.S. wins big, it could catch Italy on points and win the goal differential battle.

A 3-0 win for the Czechs and a 2-win for the U.S. over Ghana would even up all tie breakers, and a random drawing would decide who stays alive.