I thought the ref's cards against Pope is justified. Pope was playing recklessly. He should have be substituted after halftime because you can sense the Ref was watching Pope closely.
The red card against Pablo is iffy. A yellow card would have been better to serve as a warning. He didn't tackle on purpose - just mistimed like PhillyRover said. The ref, I feel, got too zealous in his desire to control the game since both teams were playing hard. Look at the # of fouls committed in this game - just a hard-nosed game.
Arena need to learn how to utilize substitution during the game. He didn't bother substituting the last 10 minutes of the game when the Italian defense is clearly gassed. Wouldn't have hurt to put in Eddie Johnson in lieu of Beasley who played horrid.
It could be fortunate for us that the two forwards for Ghana is out of the next game. We'll see how the US respond. I don't mind Pope being out (he plays too recklessly) but Pablo's not playing will make things difficult.