Magic ends as US falters against Ghana

It was a landscape of deja vu for the U.S. men’s national team.

The men allowed an early goal Saturday against Ghana and found a bit of magic to tie the game. But in the end, the United States’ World Cup stint was ended by the African nation for the second consecutive Cup
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At first, it looked like the U.S. could come back once more and end the game before it went into an extra 30 minutes of play. However, another Ghanian goal in the first few minutes of extra time was just too much, and the tired American side could not muster up another epic comeback — something that had become its game plan during the World Cup.

“Obviously, we are disappointed,” U.S. striker Landon Donovan said. “It’s a tough lesson to learn when you don’t get a chance to redeem yourself. I guess the warning signs were there — getting scored on early — and it came back to bite us, finally.”

Though the Americans attempted several desperation shots into the net as time dwindled, their lackluster overtime play eventually allowed Ghana to pull a 2-1
victory.

“The finality of it is brutal,” Donovan said. “You realize how much you’ve put into it, not only for the last four years, but your whole life. There’s no guarantee there’s another opportunity at that.”

U.S. keeper Tim Howard echoed Donovan’s sentiments.

“The second one (Ghana scored) was definitely hit hard,” Howard said. “They took their goals well. They didn’t have many opportunities.”

However, one opportunity was enough. Just three minutes into overtime, Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan got on the end of a long ball misjudged by U.S. defenders Jay Demerit and Carlos Bocanegra.

Gyan shot with such force and voracity that Howard had no chance to stop the ball as it zipped over his head and into the back of the net.

“When you have sharp forwards that sit on your shoulder, they wait for balls like that,” Demerit said. “For defenders, we have to worry about the ball in front and the ball behind, and sometimes you get caught in two minds or you just get caught in the space and have to react. They were able to react a little bit quicker than us and showed good strength and a good finish.”

Allowing the early overtime goal continued a U.S. trend, as they gave up a score quickly in regulation as well. The  early goal marked the third time in four games that the Americans gave up a goal within the first 15 minutes.

“Too often, right after the whistle blows we get hit, and if you do that enough times you’ll pay for it,” Howard said. “We have had the good fortune of not paying for it before, but we did today.”

That moment happened in the fifth minute. After a turnover by Clark at midfield, Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng dribbled toward the goal before unleashing a low strike toward the near post.

Howard was expecting Boateng to go far post and was not able to parry the ball away in time as it slipped by him to give Ghana the early 1-0 lead.

“I kind of got the ball stuck in my feet,” Clark said. “I think they played it in the midfield, and I got caught in my decision making and didn’t react fast enough. The guy stole the ball, and it’s unfortunate because it led to a goal.”

Ghana kept up the momentum in the first half and looked set to score more. However, the score stayed 1-0 as the teams went into halftime.

As norm in this World Cup, a different and more motivated U.S. team took the field for the second half, finally tying on a penalty kick from Donovan.

The striker converted the penalty with a shot off the right post, turning the momentum to the United States — who was unable to find the goal again.
“We tried to push and push, and I don’t know if we just didn’t have anything left because we’d been pushing so much the entire tournament,” Bocanegra said. “Just didn’t go our way today.”

The win puts Ghana the in the quarterfinals, the furthest the team has ever gone.
“We had to fight to the last second, and we gave our all,” Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew said. “We fought for the continent and for Ghana. We hope the whole African nation is proud. Everything is possible.”

Being the only African nation to make the final 16 gave the Ghana team a great sense of pride and helped propel the men during play.

“Me and my colleagues were very disappointed that no African team is with us,” Ayew said. “We have to fight not only for ourselves, but for all the other teams. Yes, we feel we have Africa behind us, and that’s giving us energy to fight more.”
The U.S. men now end their promising run through the 2010 World Cup.

“There’s always disappointment when things like this happen, when great tournaments like this come to an end,” Demerit said. “That’s natural. But it’s a really special time for U.S. soccer at the moment, and I think it’s a big responsibility for the players to show that and to appreciate that. Today is a day that, even when disappointment is probably at its highest, is the time to show the most appreciation.”

But the Americans said they feel they can hold their heads high as they leave South Africa, having proved to the world that they can play with the best of the best and will not give up until the final whistle is blown.

“It’s a good group,” Howard said. “We’ve talked about that for four years. ... It’s a good bunch of guys who never give up, and that’s not a cliche. We’ve proven that time and again.”