But even though Coach Bruce Arena's squad was sent home early with Thursday's 2-1 loss to Ghana, Americans still have a team to root for -- any team that's matched up against host Germany.
Please follow me closely on a no-brainer of a solution to a critical part of the U.S. soccer team's problem: Hire Southern California resident, Jurgen Klinsmann, the national coach of Germany, as the next coach of the U.S. team.
Arena engineered the U.S. soccer team into the final eight in 2002 after it finished dead last in the 1998 tournament under Steve Sampson. Coupling his initial national team success with his four NCAA championships at the University of Virginia and two MLS titles, Arena is arguably one of this nation's best-ever men's soccer coaches.
If any coach deserved the benefit of the doubt for a team's disappointing performance in one tournament, it is Arena. That he won't get it shows how pervasive were the team's failings in Germany.
The U.S. team that was put on the field in the first match against the Czech Republic had two defensive liabilities in the back that were certain to be exploited and they were. Needing goals for a win in at least one of the next two matches, Arena fiddled while Rome burned, sticking with a one striker alignment that everyone, but the coach, knew would produce few scoring chances.
As was the case with Sampson leading up to 1998, key starting assignments as well as spots on the World Cup roster seemed to be tied more to loyalty to long-time players than merit. John O'Brien, one of the team's most talented players, and a star for the U.S. in 2002, saw only a few minutes of action in the first match against the Czech Republic, ostensibly because of his fitness.
Did that mean he wasn't fit enough to play the second half against Ghana in an effort to avoid the humiliation of losing to a country about the size of Illinois and Indiana? That was one of the switches, along with taking too long to give the young, but talented Eddie johnson a shot on top, that Arena could not pull.
It was reported that assistant coach Glenn Myernick scouted more than 50 games involving players of the Czech Republic, which ironically may have contributed to some over-strategizing instead of just putting the 11 best men on the field in the positions they were best suited to play.
DaMarcus Beasley, playing out of his normal position in the first game, and Landon Donovan were shadows of the players they were in wins over Portugal and Mexico back in 2002. The whole team performed like it was operating in a system it wasn't comfortable with.
Whatever happened to the 4-4-2 or the 4-3-3. I hope I never hear the 4-5-1 mentioned again.
Donovan capped his tournament by carrying the ball into the penalty area in the closing minutes against Ghana and passing up a lane to the goal a truck could have driven through. Instead he dropped the ball back to a well-covered teammate.
The sequence epitomized the maddeningly non-aggressive approach of the team throughout two of the three matches.
Arena failed in his most important job -- giving his team the best chance to be successful. I haven't heard anyone suggest that he should come back. And that is where the 42-year-old Klinsmann comes into the picture
His credentials are impressive. He was one of the world's premier goal scorers as a member of the 1990 World Cup Champion German squad and was on two UEFA Cup champions. It is almost axiomatic now that you need to play soccer in Europe to compete at the highest level. Klinsmann has played and coached there.
Klinsmann and his wife, a native Californian, and their children, have been living in the Los Angeles area for several years. He doesn't commute from Germany to visit his family, he commutes to Germany to train his team.
That has galled many Germans, particularly their press, for what is perceived as less than a total dedication to the national team. The criticism was heightened when the team was slow rounding into form, leading up to the World Cup.
If Germany had been beaten in the round of 16 on Saturday by Sweden, the German press would not doubt have been howling derisively again about "California Klinsi". Even a loss in the quarterfinal match on Thursday against either Argentina or Mexico could start up the criticism anew.
Would he feel unappreciated enough to end the 6,000 mile, several times per month, commutes between sunny California and Germany to accept the job as the coach of his adopted country? That just might be a match made in heaven for U.S. soccer.
Charlie Bergmann can be reached at cbergmann@nc.rr.com.
