USA-Ghana: Live from Rustenburg

Back to where it all started just over a year ago, Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Here it was on that fateful day that the USA turned around a 6 goal difference between themselves and Italy and progressed to the second round of the Confederations Cup with a 3-0 victory against another African team, Egypt.

The stage was certainly set for the US to go deep in this tournament and seemed to have all the momentum going for them, but they were about to run up against an emerging African powerhouse, Ghana. One must only look back four years ago to how dangerous this game would be as this was the same nation that knocked us out of the 2006 World Cup.

Unfortunately, after a 2-1 extra-time victory, Ghana now have the privilege of saying they have knocked the US out of the past two World Cups. Yet, unlike the 2006 version of this matchup, the United States exits this tournament knowing that they probably deserved better.

There was no glaring refereeing mistake like the two matches that were to follow the US loss, which those teams can somewhat unjustifiably point to as the reason for their exit, but the loss is just as disappointing.

As I settled into my seat at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, I quickly saw that front row seats behind the goal were certainly not what they were cracked up to be. I had sat in the upper level on all three previous visits to Rustenburg, but was now sitting in the lower level where the advertising boards blocked out the touchline and lower part of the goal. I was behind the net where all of the goals were scored, so this meant on Ghana’s first goal the only way we knew it was a goal was the crowd reaction.

It’s funny how you can drive to what seems like the middle of nowhere, which is essentially where Rustenburg is as it is a sleepy mining town, and then come upon a stadium and then see so many familiar faces. It’s a sort of brethren that was formed this World Cup between the supporters and it was a privilege to sit with Sam’s Army during this tournament.

There were three spots in the lineup which were still in question prior to the match and upon seeing Clark, Findley and Bornstein warming up, you knew they were to start.

You’ve seen the match, so I’m not going to go too much into detail. Unfortunately we had to chase all four of the matches due to early goals being conceded (obviously we didn’t concede to Algeria, but since we needed a win we had to chase that game as well) and this has meant difficult choices in the lineup.

Bob Bradley quickly realized he had made the wrong decision starting Findley and Clark and removed them by halftime and I hate to be critical, but the crowd in Rustenburg was pretty unanimous in those two not starting. I can see Clark, but Robbie Findley has done nothing for us this tournament. I’m not high on any of the forwards, and I’d prefer to see Gomez come off the bench, but I just don’t see why Findley continued to start for us. CD9 was surely missed this tournament, we never found his replacement.

We certainly had our chances though, as soon as Edu and Feilhaber (who had quite the tournament off the bench I must say) entered, the US was in complete control of the match. After Landon’s PK goal, it seemed like the next goal was only a matter of time. Alas, this was not the case.

What have we learned this World Cup? Right now we don’t know who the best partner with Michael Bradley in the midfield is. When we play teams, such as Spain and England, and are going to count on the counter-attack for goals, I think Rico Clark is an acceptable decision. He’s proven that he can be counted on to clog up the middle.

For games that we should win or are at least up against a team that is of equal talent, Ricardo Clark just does not offer enough attacking presence to justify his decision in the team. One can even argue after this tournament that Mo Edu has done enough to start either way, since he offers a nice compliment of attacking and defensive play.

In this system, I don’t see Paco Torres being anything other than a role player as his defensive qualities are just not strong enough. If we were to move to another system, he could fit, but for now he will remain a role player. Though, his attacking presence may be useful in playing teams we should beat where he is not required to play a defensive role and can roam.

It’s a disappointing exit – made more difficult to take especially since we had as clear a road through to the semifinals as one could have wished for. Yet, crashing out in the Round of 16 is nothing to be ashamed about. I had a simply stunning time supporting this team throughout the tournament and I still feel big things are to come from us in the future.

When the final whistle blew, it was one of those moments that you know every four years will come, but it doesn't make it any easier. The only positive is that we lost to Ghana, a team that has done all of Africa proud.

It was hard to watch the US players after the final whistle as they were all devastated. Many of them sat stunned in the dugout well after Ghana had left the field and the supporters had filed out of their seats. Carlos Bocanegra was the last one to leave the field and looked inconsolable, finally leaving the field after Bornstein urged him to.

For Boca, he knew this was the last time he would ever grace the World Cup and it was tough to leave, knowing that this team was capable of so much more.