0-2-1

So, the United States soccer team was eliminated from second-round World Cup play yesterday. Granted, it was a long shot to begin with; assuming that the U.S. could beat Ghana, they'd still need help from Italy to advance. So in order to remove the drama, I suppose, the American squad just went ahead and lost their critical match 2-1. Final results for the U.S. team: three games, two loses, one draw, one goal scored—the goal credited to the U.S. in their game against Italy was actually kicked in by an Italian defenseman—and a last place finish in Group E. So it's three and out for the Americans, and the United States soccer team has still never won a World Cup game held on the continent of Europe.

We really shouldn't be surprised by all of this. Consider how U.S. national teams have performed in some other recent international competitions:

Basketball (Athens Olympics, 2004)
Lost to Costa Rica in the opening round of play. Lost in the semifinal round to Argentina. Eventually took home the bronze medal.

Hockey (Torino Olympics, 2006)
Won one game in the entire tournament. Eliminated in the first game of the medal round.

Baseball (World Baseball Classic, 2006)
Advanced out of the opening round with help. Eliminated in the second round.

To conclude, American teams can't win in international play in sports that the American people actually care about. Why would anyone think soccer would be any different?