The coach wouldn't, but as a player, if you have a perception of an opponent, it can play a powerful role in how focused you are on the field. I think the Italians are showing signs of overlooking us. To be so clueless about an opponent 2 days before a game is a very dangerous thing, and if they solely watch tape of the CZR game, or even the CZR game plus the send off series games, they're going to get a misleading, negative impression of us. Is it really misleading? They've been looking pretty damn awful lately. Sure they have the potential to play better, but will they? Yes and no. The send off games weren't great indicators because instead of using lineups he'd be likely to use in the WC, Arena used different combos like he still needed to find guys out. That, IMO, was stupid. Given that our full squad hadn't played together in about a year, he should have had starters out there the whole time. So while we didn't look good, a lot of that was due to weird combos of players who would never see the field in WC play. Also, the fact that he didn't play a starting lineup the whole time impacted the CZR game. It was the first time those guys had been on the field together, starting, in a while, and it's not shocking, for instance, that Lewis and Convey screwed up so badly leading to the first goal. So the question ends up being how quickly can the US gel? It was stupid that Arena didn't play the team together because the three send off games should have been preparation games. By the third game you should have had your team figured out.