U.S. disappointed, but whatcha Ghana do?

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This article was published 28/06/2010 (5943 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RUSTENBURG, South Africa — The fact that his World Cup was over hit Tim Howard hardest Sunday morning.

After four years of planning, two years of qualifying and months of training, Howard and the rest of the U.S. soccer team woke up Sunday morning with nothing more to look forward than a long flight home.

"We’re not getting up for practice, that’s for sure," the U.S. goalkeeper said after a 2-1 loss to Ghana on Saturday. "That part’s sad. It’s disappointing. It’s hard. It hurts."

Then he paused.

"It’s hard to put your emotions into words," he said, his voice catching. "We are going home."

And for the second time in as many World Cups they’ve been sent there by a speedy and resilient team from Ghana, which earned Saturday’s victory on a memorable goal from Asamoah Gyan three minutes into 30 minutes of overtime.

Four years ago Ghana knocked the U.S. out in a first round in which the Americans went winless. This time the end came in the second round, which the U.S. entered unbeaten.

And while that might qualify as progress, it doesn’t make the result any easier to take. Especially because this was a game the U.S. thought it should have won.

"The finality of it is brutal," said Landon Donovan, who spent several long minutes alone on the U.S. bench after the final whistle. "When you realize how much you put into it, not only for the last four years, but for your whole life.

"There’s no guarantee there’s another opportunity at that. It’s disappointing."

Also disappointing is the fact the U.S. was its own worst enemy in South Africa, constantly finding itself having to come from behind. In four games the Americans led only once — on a Donovan goal in stoppage time that beat Algeria in group play.

"We got behind the 8-ball too early too many times in this tournament," captain Carlos Bocanegra said. "At this level when you give up this many goals you’re not going to go very far."

Saturday’s game followed the same script, with Ghana going in front in the fifth minute after Ricardo Clark was stripped of the ball at midfield, leading to a goal by Kevin Prince Boateng.

That marked the third time in its four World Cup matches that the U.S. gave up a goal in the opening 13 minutes.

"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we do that," Howard said. "We just gave ourselves too much of a mountain to climb."

With former President Bill Clinton, one of U.S. soccer’s newest fans, looking on, the Americans tied it in the 62nd minute on a penalty kick by Donovan, who scored three of the five U.S. goals in the tournament. But the climb proved exhausting and the best the U.S. could do after that was hold on for the tie. And because this was an elimination game, that meant two 15-minute overtime periods.

Ghana didn’t need nearly that much time, scoring three minutes in on an unusual play that started with a long ball into Ghana’s end. After the ball was headed back upfield, Andre Ayew got a boot on it, hoping to do nothing more than clear it across midfield. Instead his long, arching kick hit found Gyan in full stride.

Gyan then outran two U.S. defenders, chested the ball down while shielding it from Bocanegra, his club teammate with Rennes of France’s Ligue 1, and fired a left-footed shot over Howard for the winner.

"That’s too easy of a goal to give up Just a clearance right down the heart of our team," said Bocanegra, whose World Cup came to an end in the same stadium where it began two weeks earlier. "At the moment it’s kind of frustrating and sad that we’re going home because we were so close to pushing on to the next round."

Instead it’s Ghana that’s going on, becoming only the third African team ever to reach a World Cup quarter-final. It will play Uruguay in Johannesburg on Friday.

By then, Howard said, he’ll still be trying to get over the loss, a process that will take "a long time. A few months."

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"We’re going home so there’s an opportunity missed. We should have won the game," the 31-year-old said. "It’s time to take stock and figure out where to go from here."

For the 28-year-old Donovan, who shortly will return to the Los Angeles Galaxy, this World Cup had more good times than bad. And that figures to make Saturday’s bitter pill a little easier to swallow.

"I think we can hold our heads high at how we did," he said. "Obviously you hate losing. Obviously the feeling is bitter.

"But the effort, the energy, the attitude we had. The belief. I have no qualms with that. Sometimes you lose games. That’s part of soccer."

true— Los Angeles Times