We all just spent the last few hours depressed, slightly numb. Many are talking about how terribly we played and the poor player selection from BB. OK, but I just watched the highlights. If Altidore's "falling-down" chip is two feet left, we're playing Uruguay. Just a little luck, and we're still in it. Our GK had a bad game. Our CBs had a bad game. Our best player had a bad game. And we barely lost. Still sucks, but...
I'm more depressed about the fact that it was a very winnable game, and we couldn't get it done. We couldn't have gotten a better WC scenario- our group, and then the Round of 16 & potential quarterfinal opponents. It may be a long time before we get another WC where the planets are aligned as well.
The loss to Ghana is obviously more disappointing as a result of the relatively beatable quarterfinal opponent we didn't get to face. On the whole, though, there are about nine or ten teams that have the right to feel seriously disappointed by going out at the round of 16, and we aren't (yet) one of them. Even against opponents at or near your own level, odds are you'll eventually take a costly misstep; ours was today. After the injuries to Davies and Onyewu, there was reason to fear a fiasco at this cup. Instead, we did pretty well, and gave US fans some moments of drama and celebration prior to the depressing ending. On balance, I'd say it was a very positive showing.