U.S. left to wonder what could have been

Comeback Kids come up short, but Cup run has to be considered a success

U.S. star midfielder Landon Donovan reacts after his team conceded a goal to Ghana in extra time on Saturday. Ghana held on for a 2-1 victory and eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup.

U.S. star midfielder Landon Donovan reacts after his team conceded a goal to Ghana in extra time on Saturday. Ghana held on for a 2-1 victory and eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup.

RUSTENBURG, South Africa - This was one fight-back too many, even for the Comeback Kids.

For one long moment in the second half of the United States-Ghana match it actually looked as if the Americans might pull off the improbable once again.

They had gone down to another early goal and been played off the pitch by the Ghanaians for much of the first half.

 Yet, as we've witnessed time and again in this World Cup, it was a different U.S. team that took to the field in the second half.

Miraculously the team clawed its way into a match it should have long lost. It leveled the score on a Landon Donovan penalty shot that found the net off the right post, and it even had chances to win the game before it was sent into extra time.

But when Asamoah Gyan muscled his way past U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra early in extra time and smashed an unstoppable shot past a helpless Tim Howard, there was to be no more American resurrections.

This time there was no sense of injustice stemming from controversial referee decisions for the players to draw extra motivation from.

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Instead laid bare was a U.S. team of great spirit but also limited ability that had performed admirably — no, heroically — numerous times in this tournament, but in the end probably went as far as could be asked of it.

That's why this World Cup must be considered a U.S. success.

Still, we are left with a great sense of what could have been.

This, after all, was a U.S. team that had fought

Hopes had been raised when the U.S. reached the final of last year's Confederations Cup, held in South Africa and seen as the warm-up to the World Cup.

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But, despite the great result in the opening round of this tournament, there were worrying signs.

The defense had looked shaky in the early stages of every game with Oguchi Onyewu struggling for match fitness and Jay DeMerit committing serious errors of judgment.

Bradley said the early goal that the U.S. gave up against Ghana ultimately cost the team the match.

"We put ourselves in that spot one too many times," he said.

"There's a real feeling that we put a lot into getting back to 1-1 ... that comeback took its toll."

Up front, firepower was, once again, sorely lacking, with Jozy Altidore missing a one-on-one opportunity to put the U.S. into the lead with the score tied 1-1.

Like in the 2006 World Cup, the U.S. strikers were held scoreless in the tournament.

However, there were also strong, positive signs suggesting a bright future for the U.S. soccer team.

Landon Donovan scored three goals in the Cup and has, not surprisingly, been the U.S. star performer.