By Mike Woitalla

Soccer America Executive Editor

in Kaiserslautern

Coach Bruce Arena said his team has practiced a lot of 10 against 11, but never nine against 10. Yet the USA managed the task successfully enough to tie World Cup favorite Italy, 1-1.

''I really respect our team for the way they dealt with it,'' Arena said. ''ThereÆs no way you can train a team to play nine against 10 for 40 some odd minutes in a World Cup. They did a tremendous job. A lot of teams would lose their composure or use it as an excuse, but our guys played with a lot of heart.''

Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda ejected ItalyÆs Daniele De Rossi in the 27th minute and the USA's Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope in the 45th and 47th minutes, respectively.

''I don't think I've ever coached a game where two of my players were red-carded,'' said Arena.

Arena credited his captain, central midfielder Claudio Reyna, as the key to the U.S. effort against Italy, which had opened with a 2-0 win over Ghana.

''Claudio was fantastic when things were even,'' Arena said, ''and in the second half his positioning defensively, his ability to give us possession and distribute the ball in difficult circumstances was fantastic. He had a great game. Two great games for Claudio.''

Arena also offered high praise for Landon Donovan, whom he had criticized for a lack of aggression after the 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic.

''Landon Donovan emerged today,'' Arena said. ''He was the player we think he can be. He was spent at the end of the game as he should be.

''I can't give enough praise to every player who wore our shirt today.''

After bringing on DaMarcus Beasley, who Arena said played spectacular in the midfield, and central defender Jimmy Conrad, he chose not make a third substitution.

''It would have been a striker,'' he said, ''but Brian McBride did so much work defending on restarts, defending on the run of play and being our target. It would have been a difficult situation to bring in Brian Ching or Eddie Johnson.''

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller made two spectacular diving saves late in the game to preserve the tie.

''I'm so excited about the point,'' he said. ''IÆve won some big games in my career, so it sounds funny to be so excited about a draw, but you look at the occasion, you look at who your opponent is. You look at your result in the last game. This is a result that kept us in the tournament.''

Because Ghana beat the Czechs (2-0) earlier in the day, a U.S. win over Ghana on Thursday combined with an Italian win over the Czech Republic will get the Americans into the second round.

''If we can tie Italy with nine men,'' Donovan said, ''we can beat anybody with 11.''