In the immortal words of Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not," "Well, it was nice while it lasted."
The line from the 1944 Warner Bros. movie, starring Bacall with Humphrey Bogart, reflects the United States soccer team's exit from the Word Cup tournament in South Africa, the Americans getting beat by a tough Ghana eleven in extra time, 2-1, on Saturday.
The U.S. squad put up a good fight in pool play to advance to the Round of 16, but in the end was lacking in the creativity and expressive play that experienced national soccer teams must have to win in the sport's highest competition. It's one thing to play for ties and come-from-behind victories in the first round. The United States' best performance came in its first game against England, the country which a lot of experts viewed as a first-rate opponent.
But the Brits were white-washed by Germany, 4-1, on Sunday. Also, Mexico, Italy and France have been dismissed.
It will be interesting to see if the TV viewer interest that was generated by the United States and Mexican teams participation can hold for the remaining two weeks of the tournament now that those countries have been eliminated. With Wimbledon entering its second week and the baseball pennant races taking shape, the ratings in the soccer tournament could take a dive.
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