BY RIDGE MAHONEY, Senior Editor A spirited first half without reward, a sloppy second half during which a mistake was punished. For decades, teams have been losing to Italy in this manner, and so did the United States succumb, 1-0, Wednesday night in Catania, Sicily despite generating 15 shots to the host’s eight. Regardless of David Regis being fouled by Gianluca Zambrotta as he coughed up the ball from which Italy launched its successful counterattack, that was not the first time the U.S. had lost possession its own third of the field. In an otherwise solid first half, several players — including Regis — hit bad balls at bad times. Regis, deep in his own half without hindrance, sprayed an aimless ball all the way across the field. There were only a few unforced errors, but, as was proved in the second half, against Italy or Portugal or Poland or any other good team, miscues — unforced or otherwise — are costly. A glaring Italian error went unpunished. The hosts were not so forgiving. The opening 45 minutes were as promising as they were misleading. A lazy Italian midfield allowed the U.S. to play the ball about and once the ball did pass the center line in came crashing Fabian Cannavaro or Cristiano Zanetti to shut down the attack. Several of those resulting free kicks were close enough to the Italian goal for a set play, but poor service from Claudio Reyna and Jeff Agoos squandered those opportunities. Squanderer supreme on the night was Landon Donovan. An atrocious back pass by Zanetti presented Donovan with a breakaway; he faked Italian keeper Francesco Toldo off his feet but hit his shot off the base of the post. Donovan carved out a chance later in the first half by cutting inside Cannavaro on the left side of the penalty area but his right-footed shot missed the top corner. Alessandro Del Piero showed the teenager how to do it in the second half. He collected a flaccid header by Tony Sanneh and turned Agoos in a similar manner to rip a shot Brad Friedel turned over the bar. Donovan’s shooting may have betrayed him but at least his touches and runs carried a threat. The same can’t be said for Joe-Max Moore, who often was caught with the ball at his feet. Moore did draw some nasty fouls. He also frittered away possession with third and fourth touches in tight space. He did his best to emulate the post-up work of Brian McBride but could not withstand the controlled brutality of the Italian defenders. Once the Italians turned up the pressure in the second half the U.S. midfield collapsed. Quick, clever combinations among Reyna, Regis, and John O’Brien, buttressed by the aggression and clean touches of Chris Armas, vanished from the U.S. game. Earnie Stewart, nominally deployed on the right side of midfield, wandered for most of the match. His cause wasn’t helped by Sanneh, to whom the Italians granted space and possession with evident assurance he wouldn’t exploit them. He seldom did, yet one on occasion he came inside to push a short ball Reyna skied high. Defender Gregg Berhalter came out of the game with the highest marks he’d earned in a U.S. shirt in a long time. He won the majortity of toe-to-toe battles with Christian Vieri. Berhalter dominated in the air, repelling the high balls preferred by Italy in the first half and also snuffed one attack with a slide tackle that uprooted Francesco Totti if he’d stepped on a land mine. In the sixth minute, Berhalter slammed on the brakes to trap Marco Di Vaio offside. A very tight call went to the U.S. when the flag went up. Regis and Armas also stepped in with tackles that defused dangerous situations. But once Italy took control, they were consigned to defensive duties and could no longer support Reyna’s efforts to re-ignite the attack. Vieri left at halftime and the more mobile, inventive Del Piero feasted on his teammates’ resurgence. Friedel saved and a Regis tackle denied him, but no American had any chance to stop his tap-in. Zambrotta dislodged the ball from Regis — who had no business dithering on the ball in his own third — with a tackle and shoved him aside for good measure as he pushed a ball up the flank for Massimo Marazzina, who clipped it into the middle for Del Piero to tuck away. The diligence of Berhalter, the range and tenacity of O’Brien, and the midfield bite of Armas were pluses. But the United States did not pass the first of several European tests in the World Cup run-up.