It was only ever a dream

The Group of Death finished properly, with one favorite knocked out. I suppose it's a measure of some improvement that we go home as "disappointments," signifying that we were meant to have accomplished more. One of these tournaments we'll win Game 3 and decide our own fates.

We were not as bad as the Czech game, as we demonstrated in the next two matches. Ghana are a quality side, and should not be considered a surprise to be facing Brazil. Any knowledgeable soccer watcher knew that the Ghanians had some quality players to showcase. But they were beatable today, if we only knew how to throw a knockout punch. We should have won this game or the one against the Italians, and been on our way to Round the Second.

Let's have some fun and play the Blame Game. Why not, as it's all we have left (he says, bitterly and dryly). First and foremost, Landon, the poster child of US Soccer. No more need be said than his 89th minute play. With the ball at the right side of the box, he drove into the middle rather than taking a clear -- if angled -- shot on goal.

I'm so angry with Landon, because we MNT fans have all bemoaned his decision to leave the Bundesliga. How would he have played if he had been toughened up in Germany for the past three years? We'll never know, but look at Convey for a hint....

Bruce Arena. Well, we've already said he's got to go, but this is another example of why. If you're going to play 4-5-1, then your "1" has to be a true striker, not a poacher like McBride. Macca is an excellent player, but he can't create goals; since no one was servicing him all tournament, it was time to use someone else up front.

Kasey Keller, who had no chance on any of the 6 goals he let in, and yet he had to do better. A keeper's job is more than simply stopping shots. Today, we needed possession football, yet Keller punted every single time he had the ball. Every single time. Not once did he restart from the back, bring the ball up, use his wingers....nothing. Just long-balls that were lost a full 100% of the time -- we didn't win a single 50-50 ball off his punts.

We've all seen Keller make unbelieveable saves, which was one of the reasons we thought we should do better than we did. Stressing here (again) that none of the goals were his fault, but also needing to realize that neither did he come up big in this tournament. Ever. We needed the 1998 Gold Cup Keller, that Romario called the greatest keeper he had ever played against. It's really not fair to criticize him for it, but imagine for a second if he had somehow saved the Draman goal....enough said.

This one I get to savor -- Claudio Reyna. He was meant to be Tab Ramos' replacement since 1998, and never once has he ever remotely resembled Tab. He is too weak against physical play, unsure about distribution, and barely considers taking shots. For a distributing midfielder meant to hold and pass the ball, he did neither. If only we could get the Reyna that plays for Man City. On the MNT, however, Reyna is a bust and always has been.

The most disappointing player, however, was Beasely. The Beezer had improved so much, done so well at PSV, played against some of Europe's toughest clubs in the Champions League. His performance was so unexpectedly bad, and for no reason. Maybe Hiddink was right to bench Beez for the last weeks of the season.

For the good? Well, I fully expect 2006 to be Dempsey's last season in MLS. He needs to go play against tough defenders so that he can learn a little more about attacking play. He doesn't have far to go -- Dempsey has the potential to be the player that Donovan never became. It'll be a smart European coach that comes a'courtin', and hopefully it's a Champions League club.

Bobby Convey learned a ton at Reading, and it showed. With a little more midfield complement, he could have done more. And Bocanegra played, well, he played like an English defender. Even better, he didn't commit any of the stupid fouls that he has become infamous for making. We can expect more from him, and hopefully he'll continue to learn at Fulham.

That's about it. Everyone else has already been slated or did nothing. Sadly we never got to see what Eddie Johnson might have been to do with a full 90 minute appearance. That'll be the next dream, I guess.....