It was a long shot anyways, right?

I'm feeling a lot of losing today. With my Atlanta Braves mired in their worst losing streak since 1988 (9 straight, and just three wins in their last twenty-two games), the USA is now out of the World Cup with their 2-1 loss to Ghana today. For the USA to advance they had to beat Ghana and needed Italy to beat the Czech Republic. Well, Italy won 2-0, and the USA just couldn't take care of their business. Many are going to point to a questionable call at the end of the first half giving Ghana a penalty kick that put them ahead going into half time (And, no, I don't think Onyewu fouled him). Given his not-too-subtle reporting and analysis, I'm guessing ESPN's studio analyst Eric Wynalda blames head coach Bruce Arena. (Did you see the post-game coverage on ESPN?) I do think Arena was slow to put in an offensive lineup throughout the first round matches, but the team's big name players didn't make the impact needed to push the team to the next level. Was Landon Donovan even in the stadium today? I actually began to cringe when he kept taking those corner kicks at the end of the game.

Oh well. It was a bit of a long shot anyways, right? The USA had yet to score a goal in three games, and here we would have needed three goals in one game. And even if the team had advanced, it would have been to face powerhouse Brazil in the next round.

On a side note: Is it just me or is Eric Wynalda sporting a very business-like mohawk? Just a little spike to add flair to his reporting.

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