You won't see a more brutal loss than that

After watching Ghana lose 4-2 this afternoon in penalty kicks to Uruguay, you have to admit that even the most jingoistic American fan has to feel at least a little bit sorry for Ghana.

Not only do the Black Stars fall just short of being the first African nation ever to make the World Cup semifinals but they did it in such a fashion that I'm confident you'll never see again: they missed a penalty kick in the last minute of extra time then lost in PKs. If you love sports (let alone soccer), you had to be glued to the TV this afternoon.

Asamoah Gyan certainly deserved a better fate; he scored the game-winner against the U.S. last Saturday in the round of 16 and he'd made two penalty kicks earlier in the tournament and he also made one in the PK round but nobody will remember any of those. It's all about the one that he shanked off the crossbar. Is that fair? Nope but that's how the history will be written.

Ghana

Best moment: Gyan's extra time blast that sent the Americans home. It was a terrible defensive breakdown by Bob Bradley's boys but also an outstanding individual effort by Ghana's best player.

Worst moment: Gyan had all of Africa on his side as he tried to send Ghana to the 2010 World Cup semifinals with the PK in the 120+ minute but he choked in the big spot.

Best result: Beating the U.S. 2-1 in extra time. I think most U.S. fans (myself included) overlooked Ghana and thought that without Michael Essien we could find a way to beat them. Not so much.

Worst result: Uruguay is a solid team and they're on a great run so there's no shame in losing to them but the way it went down is something that will stick with the Black Stars for life.

Final tally: 2 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw. 5 goals scored, 4 goals conceded.

Best player: Gyan had a hell of a tournament and I won't let this one unfortunate mistake overshadow his fine play throughout group play and vs. the U.S. Remember, Ghana wouldn't have been in the Uruguay match without him.

Worst player: This is a cop out but I'm not going to give out this distinction since Ghana overachieved and there's nobody from the goalkeeper Richard Kingson, the defense, midfielders (Muntari, Prince-Boateng) and strikers (Gyan) that deserve this. Nobody expected them to get this far, especially after Essien was ruled out of the tournament.