U.S. soccer takes a loss

RUSTENBURG, South Africa - You could only wonder what thoughts accompanied thudding hearts as the final whistle sounded in Royal Bafokeng Stadium and the stars of U.S. soccer stopped sprinting for that elusive second goal and watched Ghana celebrate victory.

Was Michael Bradley, the United States' rock-steady midfielder, sitting on the team's covered bench wondering about the run that almost was, but then wasn't?

Did Maurice Edu, lying on his back on the grass, feel frustrated that just when the path to glory seemed paved, this turn couldn't be negotiated?

On Saturday night in rural Rustenburg, about 90 winding miles from Johannesburg, the United States lost to Ghana in overtime, 2-1, ending the team's 2010 World Cup just a few hours after the real fun - the knockout stage - had begun.

Every athlete will tell you to take it one game at a time, never look further than the next step, but for a country waiting to put its stamp on the world's game, the bracket suggested it was plausible for the Americans. First was a round-of-16 match with Ghana, then a quarterfinal match with the winner of Uruguay-South Korea. (Uruguay, as it turned out.)

An epic dash to the World Cup semifinals - that place reserved for the Brazils, the Argentinas, the Germanys - seemed doable.

And then it wasn't.

"We had a great opportunity here," U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "Everyone here talked about the path to the final, or the path to the semifinal, but we had a really good team standing in front of us. Hopefully, next time we get this opportunity, we can take advantage."

An early miscue gave Ghana a 1-0 lead after five minutes. The United States then spent 60 minutes digging deep for the equalizer. During extra time, it began to seem that whatever karma the U.S. team had developed - coming back from 0-2 against Slovenia and finding that miracle goal against Algeria - had been buried with Ghana's second goal.

"For us, it's a little bit frustrating because we were right there to push on to the quarterfinals, and it's frustrating because we feel this is somebody we can beat," U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra said.

In the minutes afterward, U.S. coach Bob Bradley managed to look as stoic in defeat as he had, days earlier, in victory. He also managed to convey what his team must have been feeling, watching its World Cup dream slip slowly into the African night.

"I think the first thoughts for all of us are simple," Bradley said. "We felt the first round we showed a lot of good qualities. You get yourself through it and give yourself a chance to go far. We felt we had that ability, and we're disappointed we didn't get past this game."