I'm ready to talk about U.S.-Ghana

Obviously if you're reading this, you know that Ghana beat the U.S. 2-1 in extra time yesterday to advance to the quarterfinals against Uruguay on Friday at 2:30 p.m. Shimer will post some stuff later and I won't bore you with the X's and O's, I'm sure you've seen the highlights a million times by now.

Shimer and I are big boys but it took some time to really talk about this brutal defeat. Honestly, this hurts much more than the Bruins' recent Game 7 loss to the Flyers and the Celtics' Game 7 loss to the Lakers in the NBA Finals because the World Cup only comes every once four years. And who knows if there will ever be another time that the U.S. wins their group and gets such a cake path to the final?

Since starting this blog and after covering their exhibition against Czech Republic, I've definitely never followed a U.S. team more closely. Being the same age as many of the players also helps. This wasn't a team full of stars but a very likable group of players that collectively are doing big things to help American soccer globally by playing in leagues all around the world.

Thankfully, the U.S. didn't lose on a bad call or a lucky goal, Ghana was the better team and the defensive breakdowns that plagued the Americans all tournament long came back to haunt them one last time.

Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan broke through the U.S. defense in the 93rd minute and hit a bullet past Tim Howard, who had no chance to stop it.

After coming back against England and Slovenia and scoring a last-second goal to beat Algeria, the U.S. couldn't pull two rabbits out of its hats against Ghana. They gave up the fifth minute goal to Kevin-Prince Boateng but they tied it up in the second half with Landon Donovan's penalty kick.

The U.S. ran out of gas, Jozy Altidore had been subbed and there was no magic left in a team that had more than its share of luck in getting to the round-of-16.

Final stats:

United States Ghana
20(6) Shots (on Goal) 16(6)
11 Fouls 19
5 Corner Kicks 4
1 Offsides 4
51% Time of Possession 49%
3 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
4 Saves 5

United States

Best moment: Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria has been one of the defining moments of this tournament and one of the greatest moments in American soccer history so this is no contest.

Worst moment: Take your pick, either goal against Ghana. The U.S. absolutely couldn't go down again and expect to win.

Best result: Beating Algeria which allowed them to win Group B and set up about as easy a road to the final as you could ever dream about.

Worst result: They did rally from 2-0 down at the half but tying Slovenia was unforgivable. The defensive breakdowns that plagued them all tournament were at their worst against this tiny nation.

Final tally: 1 win, 2 ties, 1 loss. 5 goals scored, 5 goals against.

Best player: Donovan. He disappeared for long stretches of games like usual but the difference was that Landycakes earned a big payday with clutchtastic goals against Slovenia, Algeria and Ghana.

Worst player: This is a tricky choice, there isn't an obvious front-runner. Oguchi Onyewu was awful but he didn't play in the last two matches. Jozy Altidore was mostly invisible but he didn't have any decent striking partners. And Ricardo Clark had about as bad a 30 minutes as you could possibly have against Ghana but the loss wasn't all his fault. Therefore I can't pick one but this award is shared by many (the U.S. defense, Clark and the forwards).

See you in four years. Haha just kidding, Shimer and I are still obsessed with soccer so we'll be watching all the remaining matches. The best soccer is yet to come in the 2010 World Cup, don't make the mistake of tuning out now that the U.S. is gone.