Ghana fought harder for loose balls the entire game. Ghana's keeper Kingson played up to Howard's level, arguably surpassing him in terms of confidence and decisiveness -- think about some of those plays off corners and free kicks where he came off his line and punched it away (the most memorable being him punching the ball away before it came to Howard's head late). Ghana's second goal was improbably excellent on a couple levels, starting with the long-bomb pass and culminating in the in-the-air finish that went past a delayed flail from Howard, who wasn't expecting it. I struggle to think of a claim the USA could have to deserving to get to a shootout. Both teams were inconsistent. Both teams made bone-headed plays, had communication breakdowns on defense, and were poor at developing plays in the final third. But Ghana had a few flashes of brilliance, occasionally rising to the moment in a way that eluded the US. This was a good run for the US - they drew England, won their group, and had the two most clutch performances in the group stage. Most days, they might be better than Ghana, but not this day. And really, until they resolve their slow start to halves, they can only expect to overcome so many deficits in a row. The US led opponents for about 2 minutes the entire World Cup, and we need to bump that number up a smidge if we're going to threaten to crash the late rounds. Uruguay, meanwhile, advanced despite throwing away the first twenty minutes of the second half. After not having given up a goal the entire tournament, they seemed certain that their first strike would put them through. Instead, South Korea scored yet another goal off a set play, and Uruguay had to push forward again. That suited Suarez just fine, who bent a ball at an impossible angle, especially in the rain, to put Uruguay through. The consensus seems to be that South Korea out-played them, but other than that stretch to start the 2nd, I felt Uruguay were more dangerous. Certainly the Forlan-Suarez combo has lived up to its billing. Wonder who will be paying Ajax for Suarez, and what they'll have to pay to nab him? Uruguay should beat Ghana, and they are a true dark horse to reach the final. But let's open this up to USA discussion as we eulogize their World Cup -- 1) What went wrong today? 2) What does the USA have to do to take the team to the next level? 3) Do you think this run will leave any lasting impact on US sports fan culture?

Another day, another group finished up and now we have the next set of Round of 16 matches: Germany's 1-0 win over Ghana today combined with Australia's 2-1 win over Serbia gives us England vs Germany and US vs Ghana. I believe both match-ups will be interesting, but I don't necessarily know how that interest will take shape. One would think a game between #6 Germany and #8 England would be rollicking...but England hasn't exactly approached anything resembling rollicking in their group matches. Of course, after their opener, Germany has also seemed a bit lackluster. The match today was fairly even - Germany had a 54 - 46 edge in possession, but had fewer shots than Ghana. Passing was decent on both sides, but there was a lot of turnover action happening midfield in both directions. Both teams saw some good chances wasted, and both teams had moments of good defense. The difference in the game was a beautiful left-footed strike from Mesut Ozil, but other than that there wasn't much to write home about. Is England a better team than Ghana? In general, I'd say yes, but as we've seen in this World Cup, that doesn't mean much. England certainly hasn't played up to their potential thus far, but neither did Germany today nor last week against Serbia. Having finished second behind the US, England may be driven to kick ass or they may be deflated by the negative press they've received and by their own disappointment. My feeling is that Germany is the stronger side right now and holds the momentum, but if the England Egos can be corralled and if all those stars can come together, it could be quite a battle. The US v Ghana match will be intriguing, what with the memories of the Americans' loss to the African side back in the 2006 World Cup, leading to a plane ride home for Donovan et al. Can this rather different US squad make up for that disheartening game? Looking at how they've played, I'd say absolutely, but knowing the troubles with consistency...I'll knock on wood and say probably. As mentioned, Ghana seemed to hold up decently against Germany but throughout the match seemed unable to keep up a constant flow - in the beginning portion they were slow and losing possession easily; the end of the first half saw them pick it up and become the more dangerous attacking side; in the second half they continued to push but not well enough, and couldn't seem to put much together when they did hold the ball. The US will need to exploit those soft moments, and they have the speed to do so, but does their defense have the strength to support it? As for Australia's tough win over Serbia, it sounds like a valiant effort and it's a result the Australians should be proud of, even if it didn't secure a spot in the knockout round for them. If not for the 4-0 stomping they took in the opener against Germany, it might be a different story, as second-half goals from Tim Cahill and Brett Holman weren't enough to overcome the goal difference. Their defense did well to hold off Serbia, who didn't find the net until the 84th minute, and a handful of tweets told me Marko Pantelic's shot came from an offside position. Going home on a strong finish still means going home, but fighting to the last minute means heads should be held high.

How many more of these will I have to post? Kewell blocked a sure goal with his upper arm. As @georgina_turner noted, his bicep was a-wigglin' as he turned the ball away. Yes, it was close to the shoulder, but there seems to be little argument that there was a handball and a deserved penalty. But was it a red? To be clear: I see both arguments. I'm not blind to the claim that he was just there, had no time to react and pull his arm away. But for my money, I see an intentional movement of the arm away from the body by Kewell to make himself wide in front of goal and block the shot. I think he meant to get any part of himself he could in front of the ball as it came at him. Was that an instinctive reaction? Maybe, but it was a reaction in my eyes, and that means he wasn't just standing there and unluckily hit by the ball. He waved an arm out, or rather sort of left it out wide as he moved, and that's a red. It's a harsh red, and I sympathize with the position that the punishment seems to outweigh the crime. The problem is, soccer provides no other alternative. If players cannot be given red for handballs in front of goal, then there's no reason not to throw out arms on every sure-fire goal coming your way. Players will give up a penalty and take a yellow to prevent a certain goal every time. The red is the only weapon that can be used to incentivize keeping your hands at bay even when the ball's going in. This was a case where a guy probably didn't have to have that arm out there, and that means he had a sense of what he was doing, and that intentional choice, even if made in a split-second, has to be punished. But if you disagree, I respect that entirely. Hardly black and white here. As I joked on Twitter, maybe the best solution would be for soccer to have a hockey-style penalty box. For grey-area calls, refs could send a man off for 15 or 30 mins, giving the aggrieved team a power play. Knowing you have a man advantage for a limited time would encourage teams to bomb forward, and would also allow teams who make a bad mistake to be punished but not ruined. We'll see that approximately never, but it could work. Before Kewell was tossed in the 24th, the Australians had gone ahead when a free kick bounced off of Ghana keeper Kingson and into the feet of Holman for a finish. It looked like Group D could be sent into chaos. Cue penalty, cue tie, cue a helter-skelter game the rest of the way. You'd never now Australia was down a man. They had nearly as many chances to open up a lead as Ghana, the best coming from a shot into Kingson from Wilkshire on the break and a header from sub Scott Chipperfield right after he ran onto the pitch. Ghana spent the second half content to shoot from distance and generally looking uncomfortable with the idea of playing as a team. Only in the last 10 minutes did everything come alive for them, with a rush of action as the 90 minute mark drew close. Even then, the Australians were threatening to the last, with the final chance of the game coming off a free kick that was just long and collected by Kingson. It sort of seems like a good result for Ghana, but they still have to at least draw with Germany to be sure of advancement. Really, this was more of a bad result for Australia. Their poor goal differential makes advancement a pipe dream.

Yeah, this sort of sums it up. Yes, the German feet were ready for a battle today, and I imagine the Aussies at times might have preferred to be trapped in a submarine. The 4-0 rout by the European side was surely painful for Socceroos fans, but you can't say it wasn't earned - Germany simply outplayed them. They held 56% of possession - not a huge imbalance, although they made much better use of their time with the ball than Australia did, showing some masterful passing and clever footwork. They outshot Australia 17 to 11, which wouldn't be such a glaring gap but the shots on goal were 9 to 2, a bit more embarrassing. Australia almost scored very early off a corner kick, but the chance was blocked, and further chances were few and uninspired. In the 8th minute Lukas Podolski put the Germans in the lead, and Miroslav Klose had a great opportunity to add a second midway through the first half, but sent his shot wide despite being in front of the net. He made up for it minutes later in the 26th after Australian keeper Mark Schwarzer came off his line and was unable to stop the shot. That kind of poor defending was fairly prevalent throughout the game for Australia, a notable exception being Lucas Neill's quick-thinking clearance of Mesut Ozil's shot around the 30th. Ozil had already beaten Schwarzer but Neill raced in and got his foot to the ball, sending it skyward. After the restart, Australia looked a bit more focused and was playing better, but still unable to put anything together. Then in the 56th, Tim Cahill was shown a straight red card for a from-behind tackle on Bastian Schweinsteiger (in the running for Germaniest name on the team). From my point of view, and I'm not totally alone here, the call was unwarranted. Yes, the tackle was a bit late and from behind, but Cahill clearly tried to pull back when he realized the ball had been moved away. He ran into Schweinsteiger with his shins after apparently attempting to curl his legs down and avoid hitting him with his boots. It certainly deserved a yellow, but I felt an ejection was too much, and it proved to be an impassable moment for Australia. They really struggled against the German attack, and looked more and more ragged as the end neared. Germany tacked on two more goals, from Thomas Müller in the 67th and Cacau in the 70th. Germany is basically guaranteed to win Group D if they keep this up, and will play the second place team in the USA's Group C in the Round of 16. Which, you know...is something to either think very very hard about, or to completely ignore so as to avoid driving one's self mad. Through a desperate need for sleep, I missed today's other two games - our groupmates' match ended with Slovenia winning 1-0 over Algeria, the goal coming through a keeper misjudgment. All accounts I've heard say both sides were unimpressive and messy, so as much as a draw would have been preferred by US fans, knowing neither team put forth a good display will have to suffice. In the other Group D match, Ghana pulled off a 1-0 victory over Serbia, thanks to a penalty kick given in the 84th minute after a handball in the box by Zdravko Kuzmanovic.