One tidbit I forgot to mention from Thursday - yes, I watched the USA's final game in the world cup, and I have the following comments:

1) Key mistakes like Reyna's will kill any team in a sport as dependent on individual moments as soccer, and the first goal all but killed us.

2) The equalizer was nothing short of spectacular, and set my mind up for what could have been a spectacular second half.

3) The penalty called at the end of the half was pure rubbish, as the brits would say. For the first time I found myself entertaining thoughts that FIFA truly doesn't want to see the US succeed in the World Cup (of course that's silly; the US is an enormous untapped market - but that call was pure bullshit).

4) The US play in the second half was equally rubbish, with sloppy, disorganized play.

Sigh.