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Before I start this article, I want to make sure that everyone knows that I'm proud to be an American. I still love this team with all my heart, and despite the disappointing exit yesterday, Donovan's stoppage time goal against Algeria is still undoubtedly one of the top 10 sports moments I have ever had the pleasure of watching live. But yesterdays game told me two things about the US team: 1. We aren't that great of a team, and 2. We are a long way away from being a serious contender in the World Cup.

The lead up to the tournament was all about how well this group set up for the US. England was not playing nearly as well as they usually do, and Slovenia and Algeria were seen as after thoughts and the teams they beat to get here, Russia and Egypt, were talked about more then they would. In the next round, they took on Ghana, who was perceived as one of the weaker 2nd round opponents, and with all due respect to Uruguay, who is playing fantastic soccer right now, they are about as great of a quarterfinals draw as the USA can ever expect in the World Cup. The USA played 4 games, with one 30 minute overtime period. Adding in stoppage time, the USA play around 410 minutes, give or take. Of that time, the USA had the lead in their games for....2 minutes. That's right, they were trailing or tied for 408 minutes. That just won't cut it.

So what is the problem for the USA. Well its a number of things. For me, the top problem is the forward position, and there are several problems here. The US have not gotten a World Cup goal from the forward position since the 2002 World Cup. Jozy Altidore was thought to be the break out star, but his top highlight of the tournament was his header assist to Mike Bradley for the tying goal against Slovenia. Altidore sadly showed his age in simple mistakes like overpowering his wide open goal against Algeria, and some poor touches in the 2nd half against Ghana. I would have liked to have seen Coach Bradley take Altidore out sooner yesterday, going with Gomez in the 70th minute or so. But I'm not worried about Altidore. He's 20, and with 4 more years of international experience, he should be a stud in 2014. The other forward spot has the biggest question mark, and I gotta blame Coach Bradley for this. Robbie Findley didn't do anything against England and Slovenia, and was suspended for Algeria. Inexplicably, Bradley put Findley back into the starting line up, and once again, didn't do anything except for botch a golden opportunity late in the 1st half, kicking it right at the keeper in a 1 on 1 situation. For a guy who is paid to score goals, he HAS to do better then that. Benny Feilhaber was a great sub, and Hercules Gomez and Edson Buddle both play well in their limited minutes. But Bradley kept going with Findley, and we paid for it.

I think more then anything, the USA showed their inexperience and lack of composure that you have to have in the World Cup. Ghana made us pay yesterday for a careless error by Ricardo Clark. Ghana played it through, caught Tim Howard cheating a bit, and put it away easily in the corner. Later in the half, on virtually the exact same play, Findley had an open shot on goal, took one quick dribble and rushed a horrible effort that ran right into the keeper. This was seen virtually the whole game. Another incident occurred in the 2nd half where Michael Bradley was clear onto the goal in the box, and yet didn't even take one dribble before rocketing it right into the hands of the keeper. Its like the whole team expected Ghana to be much quicker then they were, and they rushed through everything. This is something that can only be worked on through tough international play. Guys like Dempsey and Donovan showed their composure, and all we can do is hope that some of the USA's young guns get similar experience, and will be able to play better in 2014.

All the credit in the world needs to go to Ghana. Sure I'm as pissed as anyone that they were flopping and wasting time in the overtime period, but the fact of the matter is that 90% of teams are doing the exact same thing in that position. Its a sad and unsportsmanlike part of the game, but again, its part of the game. But before that, they did what no one could before. They made us pay for our mistakes. I'm not certain that Ghana outplayed the US throughout the game, but what I can certainly say is that when it mattered, Ghana always had an answer for the US. Their defense was phenomenal, always getting ball first on nearly every slide tackle deep into their third of the field. And while it might have been a lucky bounce to the Ghana player on the game winner, make no mistake, the finish was world class. To be able to control it on the bounce, and strike it perfectly over Howard, is video that the forwards for USA could certainly learn from.

While the USA got some solid results thanks to some late game heroics, the truth of the game was always overshadowed by the fact that we didn't lose. Against England, their goalkeeper's mistake overshadowed what was a dominate effort by England. Against Slovenia, an incredible 2nd half surge overshadowed what was one of the worst halves of soccer I have ever seen by the US, or anyone for that matter. Against Algeria, the thrilling stoppage time goal overshadowed what was a bad game by the US with missed chance after missed chance. Against Ghana, there was no hiding the fact that plain and simply, we weren't the better team on the field.

I still love the US team, and I hope alot of the veterans come back for 2014, because I honestly feel that we could have a very special combination of savvy veterans and up and coming forwards and midfielders who will hopefully get the international experience they need. I know that personally, I'll be paying much more attention to these players who America, and me, fell in love with over the past few weeks. Congrats on some great moments USA, and get at them again in 2014. Thanks for the memories guys. And thank you for reading.

USA doesn't have much time to come down after their incredible golden goal of sorts against Algeria. They had 6 days between England and Slovenia, and 4 days off between Slovenia and Algeria. But now they have just two days between Algeria and Ghana. And the scary thing is, Ghana on paper is a better team then Algeria and Slovenia, AND they will have the home crowd on their side, as they are disappointingly Africa's last hope. Having said all that, the USA should win this, and here are a few reasons why.

Ghana hasn't really been that impressive. They started off with a surprise upset over Serbia, thanks to a late penalty kick. But after that, they limped across the finish line with a poor tie against Australia and a loss to Germany. Here's what bodes well for the US. Ghana has only scored two goals, and both of them were penalty kicks. The problem is the US has a flare for the dramatic, and that strategy is going to run out on them eventually.

This is also a Ghana team that is hurting from the fact that they are missing their star and would be captain Michael Essien. The USA have been fortunate so far to for the most part dodge the injury bug(knock on the biggest piece of wood you can find) with the exception of missing out on the services of forward Charlie Davies following his car accident.

One of my biggest questions is who will Coach Bradley put in the 2nd forward spot along side Jozy Altidore. In the first two games, he had Robbie Finley, who in my mind was extremely ineffective and to my knowledge had no real scoring threats. I love Hercules Gomez, but his power is being the spark at the end of the game as a sub. And the guy I've been pushing for the entire tournament, Edson Buddle, came in and had a few shots on goal and had a very solid game from what I could tell. So who does he go with? My guess is Finley sadly, but don't surprised to see Buddle get some serious playing time.

The last thing to look out for to me is the health of Gooch. He sat out the game against Algeria, which was likely just a precaution as Bradley guessed correctly that Algeria would pose few threats offensively. But as I said earlier, Ghana hasn't been lighting up the score board, so don't be surprised to see Gooch be taken out early or come in late as a sub, and keep him fresh for the next round if USA makes it, as both South Korea and Uruguay have shown they can score multiple goals a game.

So whats the result going to be. You would think USA should win 2-0, but USA has shown they aren't likely to follow the plan. My guess. USA gets a first half goal, then gives one up in the middle of the 2nd before notching the game winner around the 80th minute. USA wins and moves on to take on Uruguay in the Quarters. Thanks for reading.

Its impossible for me to even fathom how different my life would be without sports. Every generation has their "where were you moments". Most of the time, the average person only has one or two in their life. But for a true sports fan like myself, you have one almost every year. I thought I already had mine when the Saints won the super bowl in February but I cant honestly say that today's USA soccer match topped that for me. For anyone who doesn't think that the World Cup is undoubltably the greatest sporting event there is, they need just look at today. After Dempsey missed his shot off the post then blew the put back, I thought we were done. I was experiencing the worst part of sports. That gut wrenching feeling when the team you know and love is about to take their final bow against a team they have no business losing to. And in 10 seconds, literally, everything changes.

The World Cup is unlike any other event because it unites countries. If the Lakers hit a 3 to win game 7 of the NBA Finals, then Los Angeles and Lakers fans around the country are ecstatic. If USA scores a goal like that in the World Cup, everyone from the President to a farmer on Montana cannot help but jump out of their chair. There truly is nothing like it in sports. Not even the Olympics really come close. Although you are representing your country there, your country is still divided. A big swimming fan could care less if an American wins the archery gold medal. But in the World Cup, everyone is watching one team. 11 players. And all it takes is one moment.

Alot of people, my girlfriend included, find soccer boring. They say that any game that can play for 90 minutes and have no goals is boring. That may be true, but with nothing else do you find a bigger emotional roller coaster. Today was a perfect example. American fans were down and out before Donovan's unlikely goal. Now imagine this. How would you have felt if Algeria came right back down and score to tie it up. Imagine the heart ache and the gut wrenching feeling that would have been. Imagine it, because at the end of the world up, 31 countries will be feeling just like that.

Now that it is over, USA has to look ahead. They have the #1 seed for the first time since 1930, and it looks like they have a fantastic draw. If Germany knocks off Ghana, USA will have a date with Ghana or Serbia, two good teams but not great teams. IF they win, they play either Uruguay or South Korea, a game that again they should win. Now no offense to Uruguay who is a great team, but if you look at some of the potential quarterfinal matchups, you will realize how huge a chance this is for the US. Brazil will likely take on the Netherlands in the quarters. Argentina could play England. The quarters are where the titans collide, and with all due respect to Uruguay, this is without question the USA's best chance to break into the Semi finals.

I hope that I have turned any people who were on the fence about the world cup, but in all honesty, if that last goal didn't convert you, nothing will. Thanks for reading.

Well the USA got robbed on the last goal against Slovenia but the England Algeria game went about as perfect as we could have asked for. Right now, here are the current standings in Group C.

1. Slovenia: 4 points. +1 Goal differential. 3 Goals
2. USA: 2 points 0 Goal Differential. 3 Goals
3. England: 2 points. 0 Goal Differential. 1 Goal
4. Algeria: 1 point. 0 Goal Differntial. 0 Goals.

With the England tie, not only does USA now control their own destiny, not only do we now have a great shot at the 1 seed, but now we don't even have to win to get in the 2nd round. They can't lose, but if they tie Algeria, they can still get in if one of two things happens in the England Slovenia game. If Slovenia wins, they get the 1 seed, and we get the 2 seed. If England and Slovenia tie, and England gets less then two more goals then us, we advance. Ex. we tie 1-1 and they tie 0-0, 1-1, or 2-2, we advance based on scoring more goals. But USA is looking to win against Algeria, and here's what could happen if they win.

Again if USA wins they are in no matter what. If Slovenia beats England, they get the #1 seed regardless of what we do. However, if we win, and Slovenia and England ties or England wins, then its gets exciting...and confusing.

Scenario #1- USA wins by 1 goal and England and Slovenia tie: This gives USA and Slovenia 5 points, and eliminates England from the group. If England and Slovenia tie, and Slovenia scores more goals then us, they get the 1 seed and we get the 2. If we score more goals then them, we get the 1 they get the 2. So if we win 2-1 and they tie 1-1, we get the top seed. The goal differential is the key.

Scenario #2- USA wins by 1 goal and England Wins: Again, this comes down to goal differential here. However, USA has a great advantage here, as they have 2 more goals then England. So if USA and England both win by 1 goal, then England needs to have two more goals then USA to tie with them. Essentially, USA can win 1-0 and England can win 2-1, and we would still get the 1 seed. If England wins by 2 goals and we win by 1, they get the 1 seed and we get the 2. Essentially, we just have to match whatever England does. England has to outscore us to jump us. We have the advantage here.

Scenario #3- USA wins by multiple goals: If USA can win by multiple goals, it will make them veryyy hard to catch. Slovenia could still tie and advance, but they would get the 2 seed. If England wins, they would have to absolutely destroy Slovenia, having to beat them by 3-4 goals just to catch us. However, its important to note that even if we beat Algeria by 3 or 4 goals, Slovenia can still grab the 1 seed if they win.

Ok so I know that was alot to follow. I'll give you the cliff notes here. USA needs to win and have England win in a close, low scoring game. If that happens, USA gets the 1 seed, England gets the 2, and Slovenia is out. Slovenia has control over the #1 seed, but USA can control their destiny. A win, and they are in.

NOW, as if that weren't enough to keep track of, we MUST also watch Group D. After Germany's loss today, the group is up in the air. Serbia and Germany have 3 points, and Ghana is in the drivers seat, with 3 points and a match up with Australia, the weakest team in the group, tomorrow. Now if USA gets the 1 seed, there's a good chance we could play Germany in the 2nd round if Ghana can grab the one seed. I'll make it easy for everyone. The PERFECT scenario is Ghana ties Australia, Germany beats Ghana, then Serbia ties Australia. IF that happens, Germany gets the 1, and Ghana gets the 2.

In essence, things aren't much more cleared up now then they were 4 hours ago. But here's what we know now. USA controls their own destiny to win, and is 2nd in line for the top spot. All the questions will be answered next week. Hope you guys followed all that, and thanks for reading!

Ok we are officially through one third of the group stage in the World Cup. Today I'm going to break down my top 10 surprise results, both good and bad so far. Starting with 10 and going to the top, I will start with the pleasant surprises.

10. Germany dominates Australia- Alot of people thought that Germany was a weaker team this year, and one that if the USA could beat if they met in the 2nd round. That might still be the case, but I think few expected Germany to look like the best team in the world cup so far with a 4-0 destruction of Australia

9. United States ties England: This would be higher if alot of people, myself included, didn't expect it. I thought the US had a great shot at tying or beating England, who hasn't been playing well recently. If you look at my previous post, I break down how this result means that their upcoming match against Slovenia is the biggest in US soccer history.

8. South Africa ties Mexico- What a great way to start the world cup. The host team comes in as heavy underdogs against the favored Mexican team and almost pulls off a monumental upset. Despite just getting a tie, the South Africans still have a great shot at getting into the 2nd round starting today with Uruguay.

7. Italy looks sluggish in defense of title: Italy fell behind early against Paraguay, and needed a 2nd half goal to muster a point from the match. All eyes are on their leader in goal Buffon. If he is hurt for longer then the group stage, look for an early exit for the champs.

6. France falters again: France had a great shot at shooting out to a big lead in this group if they could have beaten Uruguay. That chance doubled when Uruguay lost a man in the 75th minute, and yet the France attack could barely muster 1 or 2 good chances. It looks like France is indeed as bad as many thought they were.

5. Ghana rises above Serbia- Few gave Ghana a serious shot at getting out of the group after their captain Essien went down with a knee injury. But Ghana played a great game against Serbia, and benefited greatly from a mental error that lead to a penalty kick that they put away in world class form. Ghana is now in the drivers seat for the #2 spot in the group behind Germany.

4. Ivory Coast ties Portugal: This result was overlooked in my opinion, and it was a great result for the African power house, who has had nothing but bad luck in their two world cup appearances. Combine their back to back group of death draws, and the broken arm heard round the world, and the Ivory Coast has now put themselves in the unlikely situation to make the 2nd round if they can beat Portugal in the goal differential tie break. I for one will be pulling mightily for them.

3. Cameroon lays an egg against Japan: Many people, myself included, pegged Cameroon to be Africa's best shot at a good run, but they look lackluster, confused, and down right awful against a Japan team that they had no business losing to. And with the Netherlands still coming up, it looks like it might be a very disappointing 2010 world cup for this solid team.

2. New Zealand shocks Slovakia with no time left: This is what the world cup is all about. This is a clip we will see for years to come. A team that wasn't expected to even get a point somehow comes up with a goal in the very last minute of the game to pull out a tie. And the yellow card for the celebration is just classic. But thats what the world cup does to players and a whole country. For 2 hours, all their problems go away, and sports is all that is on their minds. Love it.

1. Spain chokes......again: Well you read it here first in my overall predictions. I wasn't extremely high on this Spain squad, as I had them out in the quarterfinals. And today it look justified as the most high scoring team in the cup got as many goals as I did while I did lying in bed: 0. Now Spain is far from out of this group, and in all likelihood, they will advance. But they HAVE to win both of the next two games by big margins, because if they grab the 2nd seed, they will have a date with Brazil in the 2nd round in the next installment of Clash of the Titans.

Well there's my list. What do you guys think? Did I miss any big results? Lemme know. Thanks for reading.

I'll make it easy: Its the biggest game in USA history. Now I know what many of you are thinking. Wasn't USA England the biggest game in US history? No. It was the most hyped up game ever. But anyone in the know knew that the results from the Slovenia and Algeria game are more important then the England result. Here is why the USA Slovenia game is so huge. I'm going to do something that is frowned upon in sports but is something that almost everyone does cause its human nature. I'm going to look ahead.

Ok so the tie with England virtually set up a shootout for the top spot in the group again assuming that USA and England hold serve against Slovenia and Algeria. And there's nothing I saw in either of the groups first two games that makes me think this won't happen. In group play tiebreakers, the top breaker is the goal differential in the group. So essentially, whoever can beat Slovenia and Algeria by more would claim the 1 seed, again assuming they hold serve.

Now here is why getting the #1 seed in the group is so important. If USA gets the 2nd seed, then they will likely take on Germany, a team that just made a solid Australia team look like a high school junior varsity team. Whats worse, if they get past the Germans, they would likely have Argentina waiting for them. Now if USA can pull off the #1 seed, they would likely take on Ghana, a team that played well in their first win, but is still no where near the team they could be without injured and star and would be captain Michael Essien. Heres the best part though. In the next round, they would likely take on South Korea or the winner of Group A. At this point, USA is better then every team in Group A. This means that for the first time in US history, USA could be the best team in their quarter of the 2nd round. If they can snag the #1 seed, it would be the best chance the USA would have had and maybe will ever have to make the semi finals.

Again, this is mostly speculation. But at this point, USA has the comfortable feeling of being able to control their own destiny. USA, its time to become the great team you always could be. Take care of business, and put yourself in a position to make history. It all starts with Slovenia.

Yesterday I narrowed the World Cup down to just 4 teams. England vs Brazil and Argentina vs Cameroon. Lets break it down.

England vs Brazil: I don't think this matchup will be very close. England is here for the most part due to a soft schedule to this point. Brazil is world class and should get a relatively easy Semi Finals win 3-1.

Argentina vs Cameroon: This matchup could be very exciting. Argentina has the talent to get to this round and further, but we will have to see if Diego Mardona can handle all of the talent on the team. I think Argentina wins a thriller here 3-2.

3rd place game: England vs Cameroon: Always a tough game for some teams to get up for ,I think that Cameroon can pull one more upset here against what will ultimately be a very disappointed and deflated England squad. Cameroon takes it in PK's 2-1.

The Championship: Brazil vs Argentina: I got an all South American affair here, and as with all of their other games, I think Brazil takes this one. They are just a level above everyone else in the tournament. Spain could be the only team that could give them a serious threat. Brazil hoists the cup for the 3rd time in 5 cups, with a 3-1 win.

Well those are my thoughts! We get it all started tomorrow, and I am giddy with excitement. Thanks for reading guys and GO USAAAAAA!!!

PS and Cameroon, Ghana, France, and Netherlands!