=== Must-win situation: U.S. World Cup future on line vs. Italy ===

Kaiserslautern, Germany (My Sportsbook) - With so much expected of them in the World Cup, the 23-players representing the United States will try to regroup and recover for the second match against group favorite Italy on Saturday at Fritz-Walter-Stadion.

Head coach Bruce Arena's squad struggled to even find any opportunities, much less a goal in the team's 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic on Monday. The match was the Group E opener, and has since put the U.S. in the group's basement.

As a result, the United States faces a must-win situation in order to keep its chances alive at advancing past the group stages into the round of 16. A strong and very talented Italian squad will stand in the way of the U.S. on Saturday. The Italian team enters the second match fresh off a 2-0 victory over Ghana.

The United States traveled to Ramstein Air Base on Thursday from its Hamburg tournament headquarters.

After the 3-0 loss, Arena has promised changes to his starting lineup. The coach publicly criticized many of his players, including Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley for their play in the first match loss.

In the loss, the U.S. offense only found one shot on goal in six attempts compared to the Czech's five shots on goal.

Midfielder John O'Brien could make the start ahead of Pablo Mastroeni and Clint Dempsey could also see some time in the front line.

For Italy, the 2-0 victory was a great start to the tournament, giving the team a first place spot in the group thus far. Andrea Pirlo scored in the first half and Vicenzo Iaquinta added a second goal in the second half to help put together the victory.

The team was without defender Gianluca Zambrotta in its tournament opener. Zambrotta was ruled out due to a thigh injury, but is expected to start in Saturday's match.

Overall, the U.S. has struggled against the Italian squad in the past. In five meetings, the U.S. is still looking for its first victory, with a 0-3-2 record. The last meeting between the two teams was on February 13, 2002, resulting in a 1-0 loss for the U.S. Saturday's meeting is the third World Cup meeting between the two teams, with the last one coming in 1990, a 1-0 loss in Rome.