And they're done...

The anticipation had mounted. The backing had reached a fever pitch. And a country that had seen some serious divisiveness had almost come together.

But alas, the U.S. National Soccer Team's run in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa came to an end Saturday in Rustenburg, South Africa, with a 2-1 loss to Ghana. It ended in much the same way the American team's run had gone, with the U.S. falling behind early and having to scratch back. Ghana scored first at the five-minute mark, but Landon Donovan tied it up at 61' after the referee finally called a penalty kick (more on that in a minute). But after going into extra time, Ghana's Aasamoah Gyan scored the game winner in the first minute, and the U.S. couldn't come back in the remaining 29 minutes.

So what happened? Why did the U.S. get eliminated by Ghana for the second straight World Cup?

First, you must give a tip of the hat to Ghana, who showed they may actually belong among the big squads of the world. Gyan got the game winner, and Kevin-Prince Boateng got the first goal just four minutes into the first half. Plus, Andrew Ayew was a speedy terror the entire game, including setting up Gyan's game winner along the left wing as goalkeeper Richard Kingson kept pretty much everything out the entire game. They should give Uruguay a good fight in the quarterfinal on Friday.

Was it the officiating?

It seemed like the entire game, it seemed referee Viktor Kassai was hesitant to call anything on Ghana, while handing out yellow cards to Americans Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra and Ricardo Clark (In his defense, Ayew and Jonathan Mensah also were carded). It seemed there was this anti-American attitude the entire tournament, with major officiating blundered against the U.S. in both the Slovenia and Algeria with goals disallowed and phantom yellow cards (Robbie Findley, for example, got a yellow against Slovenia for an intentional handball even though the ball went off his face first).

However, it just may be the officiating was dung for everybody, as evidenced Sunday's matches. England had a goal disallowed at the 38th minute in their match against Germany, a goal that was about a foot and a half in the net and would have knotted the game at 2-2. England ended losing 4-1 and being eliminated. In Sunday's other game, Argentina's Carlos Tevez got his squad's first goal against Mexico despite being clearly offsides. FIFA has refused to discuss any of the officiating blunders, which has helped make the calls for instant replay that much louder.

Maybe it was just blunders by the U.S. squad itself.

In every game they played except for the Algeria game, they fell behind early, and had to scramble to catch up (In fact, they advanced to the knockout stage despite only leading for three minutes the entire tournament). They almost pulled it off against Ghana, but they just couldn't make the comeback again.

Either way, if they had pulled off yet another miracle comeback, while it would have been the stuff of legends, a team like Uruguay likely would have snuffed them out eventually.

The good news, though, is this tournament again shows the U.S. team is on the rise, and could pose an even bigger threat in 2014 in Brazil.

Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley likely will be back, as should Charlie Davies, who missed this World Cup after being seriously injured in a car accident in October 2009. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey may or may not be back, though goalkeeper Tim Howard likely may retire by then. Plus, the future of coach Bob Bradley is not certain, as nobody has discussed a contract extension just yet.

Either way, it should be interesting, and definitely should help the growth of soccer in this country.

The good, the bad and the ugly

A lot to cover, so it's time for the good, bad and the ugly:

The good: Landon Donovan saves the day for the U.S. National Soccer Team at the World Cup Wednesday, kicking in the game winner against Algeria in stoppage time and helping the U.S. win Group C. They will face Ghana in the round of 16 on Saturday. To celebrate, here is the Spanish-language version call of the goal from Univision:




Also, in keeping up with the debate on the vuvuzelas at this year's World Cup, we get a preview of an upcoming World Cup in a site not previously mentioned:



Also among the good are the Good Guys in Black, the White Sox, who won their ninth straight win Thursday with a two-hit, 2-0 shutout of the Braves. I don't know what woke these guys up, but all of a sudden, they're 2.5 games behind leaders Minnesota going into this weekend's series with the Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field. Things are definitely looking up for the Southsiders.

The bad: We knew it was coming, because professionals sports is a business, whether we like it or not. On Thursday, it was announced that the Blackhawks had traded wingers Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Eager and defenseman Brent Sopel and prospect Akim Aliu to Atlanta for the 24th and 54th overall picks in Friday's NHL entry draft, center Marty Reasoner, prospect Jeremy Morin and minor leaguer Joey Crabb.

The culprit: the ole salary cap. The trade shaves about $4 million off of the books for the Hawks as they try to adjust to next season's cap of $59.4 million.

As much as it hurts to lose Byfuglien, who had 11 goals during the playoffs, the Blackhawks do get a noted player like Reasoner and a look to the future with Morin.

And finally,

The ugly: The Cubs are 8-12 in June after Thursday's 3-2 win over the Mariners in 13 innings, leaving them eight games below .500 for the season (32-40) and eight games behind first-place St. Louis.

While the pitching generally has been good (save for the 12 runs given up against the Angels at Wrigley Field last Saturday), the hitting has continued to stink, especially this last series in Seattle. They were shut out 2-0 on Tuesday, only scrounged one run on nine hits Wednesday in an 8-1 Seattle win, and only six hits in 13 innings but won 3-2 thanks to strong pitching performances from guys like Ted Lilly.

The Cubs aren't completely dead, but if they don't turn things around like the White Sox (who were looking at some changes as recently as three weeks ago) have in recent weeks, Jim Hendry will have to do some serious house cleaning that could possibly mean his job, too.

And the jury is still out: The Bulls are playing the waiting game, trading guard Kirk Hinrich, French prospect Kevin Seraphin and cash to the Wizards for maybe a second-round pick in next year's draft. That will have to be sorted on July 8, when the trade can become official by NBA rules.

Why do it? It's all about making room under the salary cap for luring LeBron James and another top free agent (Toronto's Chris Bosh? Miami's Dwyane Wade? Atlanta's Joe Johnson?) to the United Center. Washington will absorb Hinrich's $9 million salary for someone who likely will babysit for top draft choice John Wall until the Kentucky star is ready, while the Bulls will have loads of money to bring top talent to Chicago.

We'll see after July 1.

Bad ref, bad!

It's official.

Officials, whether we call them referees or umpires, are starting to become more a part of the game than they should be.

There was Tim Donaghy, an NBA referee who in 2007 lost his career when he pleaded guilty to two counts of making calls during games to affect their point spread. More recently, there was Jim Joyce, an umpire who blew a call at first base, costing Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game against the Indians on June 2. On Friday in South Africa, there was Malian referee Koman Coulibaly, who disallowed the likely game-winning goal by the United States against Slovenia in the World Cup, leaving the game in its eventual 2-2 tie.

What is about the officials who are becoming as much a part of games as the players and coaches? Aren't they supposed to be in the background, nobly calling a game and making sure the players' skills shine through and be the only ones to affect the outcome?

Well, officials' mistakes aren't a new thing. There was umpire Don Denkinger, who called the Royals' Jorge Orta safe in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, eventually leading to the Royals beating the Cardinals and eventually winning the series. During the World Cup qualifying in November 2009, the ref missed France's Thierry Henry's obvious handball against Ireland, leading to the winning goal that allowed the French to advance to the World Cup and knocking a strong Irish side out. In 1998 NFL referee Phil Luckett blew the coin flip call at the start of overtime of the Thanksgiving Day game pitting Pittsburgh and Detroit, saying the Steelers' Jerome Bettis called heads even though Bettis clearly said, "Tails," leading to the Lions' victory.

Now I can relate to a degree. I was a umpire for Little League games for a summer when I was in high school. I know I blew calls, and the parents and coaches let me hear it (though the kids were great). Officiating a game when others are depending on you making the right call and doing it fairly in the shadows in a rough deal.

Now I'm not comparing my experience with that of officials in higher-profile games, but I am talking about the officials' and the players' responses to the blown calls. Compare and contrast the aftermaths of the cases I brought up previously:

-- Tim Donaghy spent 15 months in federal prison for his part. Since his release, he has written a book telling his side of the story and has been a pain in the NBA's side.

-- The Cardinals, who were the favorites going into the 1985 World Series against the in-state Royals, could've come back against Kansas City and won Game 7, simply delaying the championship. Instead, they choked it away, getting blown out 11-0 and allowing George Brett and company to become heroes.

-- Phil Luckett was indirectly involved with another controversial on December 6, 1998, with officials on his crew allowing the Jets' Vinny Testaverde to score the winning touchdown against the Seahawks despite Testaverde clearly being stopped. That led to the NFL instituting instant replay in all games.

-- Swedish referee Martin Hansson let Thierry Henry's handball goal stand against Ireland, but regretted his mistake when he realized what had happened. An Irish sports officials offered his condolences, and Hansson was picked to be among the elite referees for the World Cup in South Africa. However, he has remained on the sidelines as an alternate fourth official, while the other European officials have called games.

-- The disallowed goal by Maurice Edu of the United States was not the only bad call Koman Coulibaly made in that game. He earlier gave American Robbie Findley a yellow card for an intentional handball, even though replays clearly showed the ball had gone off Findley's face and into his hands (and leading ESPN announcer Ian Darke to call it "the stupidest decision" he had seen in some time). FIFA referees said mistakes do happen, but they did not address the call in a media setting on Monday. Coulibaly, however, will not officiate any more games, at least during the first knockout stage.

The best response, however, was by Jim Joyce and Armando Galarraga. After the game, Joyce went straight to the umpires' room and watched the replay. He knew right away he had blown the call, and went looking for Galarraga. When he found him, he apologized immediately. Galarraga accepted the apology with no reservations and the next day, when Joyce worked behind the plate, the Tigers' pitcher brought out the lineup card.

Needless to say, that was the way to handle the situation. Clint Dempsey of the U.S. complained about Coulibaly allowing rough play to continue even though World Cup refs have said they would call games pretty closely. However, as a coach once told me, you don't put yourself in a position when a bad call could cost you the game. The U.S. could've played better in the first half and not stunk it up, allowing Slovenia to go 2-0 at the half and forcing them to have to come back.

You accept the human error and play the way you're supposed to play. If you play poorly and set yourself for failure, then you should accept whatever comes your way, good or bad.

Blow, baby blow!

One of the big stories out of this World Cup has been the vuvuzelas, the plastic horns that South African fans have taken to blowing at full volume for the entire game, every game.

With the sound of a swarm of bees, many soccer fans, especially on this side of the pond, have come out and called them annoying, saying they are ruining the experience and wanting them banned. Players (like the French) have said they are unable to concentrate on the game.

I'll say this: The vuvuzelas are part of the experience of South Africa soccer. They're no more annoying than Thunderstix, the Macarena at Yankee Stadium or any place, or the fans doing the tomahawk chop in any environment. If you can't concentrate during the game because of noise, go play tennis or golf where people are expected to shut up.

So in short, leave the horns alone.

British comedian Dave Benson came up with this great song on the vuvuzelas, based on Rihanna's "Umbrella."

U.S. Game Two and World Cup advertising

The United States play their second game of the 2010 World Cup today, this time against Slovenia, who is currently leading Group C with three points after beating Algeria on Sunday, 1-0 (The U.S. and England are tied for second place with one point due to their 1-1 draw on Saturday).

The good news is American goalie Tim Howard should be back in the net after suffering bruised ribs against the English. He'll be needed to ward off a surprising Slovenian attack, but the U.S. are the favorites against the small Eastern European nation.

I won't go so far as to call this a must-win for the Americans, but Slovenia is winning in the group with their win and England likely will take out Algeria. Three points, needless to say, would be good here.

Game time is at 9 a.m. CDT from Ellis Park in Johannesburg on ESPN. England and Algeria follow at 1:30 p.m. CDT on ESPN2.

But it's Friday, and what better way to kick off the weekend than with some great World Cup-related commercials.

Here's a fun one from BP airing in South Africa:



A boy works on getting another player to play the beautiful game with in this spot from Stratos, a candy company in Norway.



Pepsi has this spot featuring Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, Brazil's Kaka, and Argentina's Lionel Messi:



World Cup Blog had labeled this Pepsi spot as positively the worst World Cup-related commercial to come out of the 2006 tournament in Germany. It features England's David Beckham and Brazil's Ronaldinho back when they were relevant to the game rather than just as celebrities.



And finally a spot on thinking positively from First National Bank of South Africa:



Happy Friday!

A day off...

Taking the day off. However, I will leave one impression of the U.S. National Soccer Team's 1-1 draw with England Saturday with you.




Have a good day.

World Cup off to a good start

The World Cup is off a good start, at least depending on who you are.

The host South Africa managed a 1-1 draw against Mexico in the opener Friday in Johannesburg, continuing a string of 14 consecutive openers where the host country doesn't lose. Now, there hasn't been a World Cup where the host doesn't advance past the group stage, but South Africa did themselves a big favor by gaining the point from a usually strong yet underachieving Mexican side.

Then there was the U.S. National Team, who also gained themselves a point with a 1-1 in their opener Saturday against England in Rustenburg, whom some have picked to make it to the final. It looked bad at first as Steven Gerrard (who plays for Liverpool in England) got past the U.S. defense and punched it past goaltender Tim Howard four minutes in to give the English the 1-0 lead. Howard took some pounding later in the half, banging up his elbow and then his head, but toughed it out like the good English Premier Leaguer (he plays for Everton) that he is.

Then there was the goal that England will not forget for a long time.

The U.S. managed to hang onto the ball long enough (England had possession 57 percent of the time) to get into the English zone. Clint Dempsey (who plays for Fulham in the English league) squibbed a kick forward to the English net and goaltender Robert Green (who plays for West Ham Untied in the English league). What happened will go down in history, as Green fumbled the easy kick as it rolled into the net to knot the game at 1-1.

English goaltending has not had a glorious history, but as analyst John Harkes said after the goal, you have to handle that kind of kick, no matter what level you're at.

Either way, it was a gift for the United States, who almost took the lead at the 65th minute with a Jozy Altidore (Hull City in England) run that was swatted away by Green at the last minute to keep the score tied until the end.

A win would've been nice for the U.S., but getting a point out of the English in what is the Americans' toughest game of the group is a good step toward advancing past the group stage for the first time since 2002 in South Korea and Japan. Next up for the U.S. is Slovenia on Friday, June 18 in Johannesburg, a game they should take. Slovenia plays its first game against Algeria later today.

One other note: This was probably my favorite commercial shown during Saturday's game on ABC:

U.S.A. ready for South Africa

Today, the World Cup will begin in Johannesburg, South Africa, when the host South Africa national soccer team takes on Mexico.

For U.S. and England fans, the big opener of course is Saturday when the two play in Rustenburg at 1:30 p.m. (ABC). This game could in a way tell us a lot about both sides' chance of advancing in this tournament, the first to be held in Africa.

The good news is both are in a reasonably easy Group C with Slovenia and Algeria, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage. Algeria is considered the weaker of some of the African teams, having managed to get past Egypt during qualifying, while Slovenia typically has not made much noise.

For the U.S., it's going to come down to overcoming injuries. Jozy Altidore hurts his ankle last week during the tune-ups, and while he is expected to play Saturday, the ankle will be tender. Plus, the U.S. also will have to be more consistent than it has been, with highs (a 3-1 win over Australia in the last exhibition last Saturday) and lows (a 4-2 beating on May 26 in East Hartford, Conn., at the hands of the Czech Republic, who didn't even qualify for the tournament this year in a tough European group).

What the U.S. team does after the group stage remains to be seen. It likely will draw someone like Germany or Ghana, against whom it will be the underdog. If it puts up a good showing against England tomorrow, with England expected by some like Sports Illustrated to make it to the final against Spain, the favorites to win it all, then the U.S. could go deep into this tournament like it did in 2002 in South Korea and Japan.

The World Cup's coming to a galaxy near you...

Adidas has this great spot leading to the start of the World Cup later this week: