DUISBURG, Germany -- Italy coach Marcello Lippi expects Daniele De Rossi to receive some harsh punishment for elbowing U.S. 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 Sunday.

De Rossi's elbow in the 28th minute of Saturday's 1-1 draw earned him a red card and drew blood by opening a cut under McBride's 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.

The midfielder apologized to McBride after the game and the American called him "classy" for the postmatch gesture. Lippi has yet to talk to his youngest player, though.

"He's got to think over things for a while, and not only about last night," Lippi 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 damage the already sullied 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; two Americans were also ejected. And Lippi criticized the U.S. team for how it continued playing after midfielder Simone Perrotta was injured, scoring a goal that was negated by an offside.

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