Harsh punishment awaits De Rossi

Duisburg: Italy coach Marcello Lippi is planning a private discussion with Daniele De Rossi, and is expecting the midfielder to receive some harsh punishment for elbowing United States forward Brian McBride in the face.

"He's a fantastic kid but he's got to change his ways or he's going to carry that reputation with him for a long time," Lippi said on Sunday.

De Rossi's elbow in the 28th minute of Saturday's 1-1 draw earned him a red card left McBride with blood oozing out of a cut under his left eye. The cut required three stitches to close.

De Rossi also received a yellow card for an aggressive foul in Italy's opening win over Ghana.

De Rossi apologized to McBride after the game and the American called him "classy" for the post-match gesture.

Lippi said he would let De Rossi "stew in his own broth for a while" before speaking with him.

"He's got to think over things for a while, and not only about last night," the coach said. "Then I'll talk with him. Unfortunately I think I have plenty of time."

Francesco Totti was banned for three matches at the 2004 European Championship for spitting at a Danish opponent.

"Unfortunately, Italian players have these habits and they have a tough time at the international level," Lippi said.

Giancarlo Abete, the head of Italy's World Cup delegation, said the team would accept FIFA's punishment, "whatever it may be."

That's a turnaround from two years ago, when Italy brought in high-profile lawyer Giulia Bongiorno to defend Totti in the spitting case.

Abete pointed out that FIFA uses only its own official TV replays to examine disciplinary cases, as opposed to how UEFA allowed private footage from Danish TV as evidence in the Totti case.

The incident could further injure the already damaged image of Italian soccer amid a widespread corruption scandal.

"It was a serious incident, but it's not an episode that can represent all of Italian soccer," Abete said.

"We have other problems and we will confront them in entirety. Obviously it was a negative incident, but it should be kept in context."

Abete also pointed out that Italy wasn't the only team that played dirty, since two Americans were also ejected.

And Lippi criticized the US team for how it continued playing after midfielder Simone Perrotta was injured, scoring a goal that was annulled for offside.

"They went on playing when one of our players was down," Lippi said. "But all anyone talks about is what we did."