Rossi leaves US blue

Teaneck-born Giuseppe Rossi scored twice in the second half, Daniele De Rossi had a goal, and Italy rallied to overcome a Landon Donovan penalty kick and beat the United States, 3-1, yesterday in its opener at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

"I dedicate the goals to my family, who are watching the game on TV in America," Rossi said.

The US played a man short after Ricardo Clark was ejected in the 33d minute for a late tackle on Gennaro Gattuso, but went ahead eight minutes later when Donovan scored his American-record 40th international goal after Giorgio Chiellini hooked and kicked Jozy Altidore.

Italy, 4-0-2 against the US, wore new light blue retro jerseys and brown shorts that hark back to the Azzurri's first two World Cup titles in 1934 and 1938.

Rossi spurned the US national team program to play for Italy. He entered in the 57th minute and tied the score a minute later with a 30-yard shot after stripping the ball from Benny Feilhaber.

He got his second goal in the fourth minute of injury time from 10 yards after Andrea Pirlo beat defender Jay DeMerit and crossed.

"Certainly it would have been our hope that Giuseppe played for the US, but he made his decision and he's a very talented player, and today was a very exciting day for him," US coach Bob Bradley said.

Rossi, 22, scored four goals at last summer's Olympics. He made his debut with the senior Italian national team in October as a substitute against Bulgaria and scored his first international goal June 6, putting Italy ahead in a 3-0 exhibition win over Northern Ireland.

De Rossi put Italy ahead, 2-1, in the 72d minute.

Bradley and his players were unhappy with Chilean referee Pablo Pozo's decision to give the red card to Clark, saying the foul should have been merely a yellow card.

"The red card made all the difference," Donovan said. "Eleven guys from each team were prepared and ready to play the game, and the guy in the middle with the whistle wasn't."