During June a great fever swept accross the United States. This fever was world cup fever. Soccer, which never seemed to gain any popularity inside the United States, captivated the imaginations of Americans. Bars and ESPN centers all were filled accross the nation with our teams newly discovered fans. There was a sort of electricity that filled the air with the loud chants "U-S-A, U-S-A" filling the crowded place. Big hopes surronded the team. They were called the World Cup's most conditioned team and were ranked sixth in the world. Then the tournament started...and with weeks our beloved heroes were turned into yesterdays news. Getting knocked out after group play. Was this team simply overly hyped, didn't perform, or just poorly managed?

The answer is a little bit of all three. First off, the Americans had some talent but not as much as much of the rest of the world. Growing up most of the American children are playing Baseball and Football. Thus the mentality of soccer was not ingrained into Americans. Dreams of playing in the MLB and NFL over MLS. This hurts America's ability to create stars such of Ronaldo and Ronaldihno instead we create stars such as Tom Brady and Barry Bonds.

Second, the team just did not come to play. This is the World Cup not just some exhibition match. Every team that has come to play has done better than expected. A prime example of this is Ghana. Ghana was the team in group E that was considered an easy win. Yet through hard work they moved on to elimination rounds. Many sports reporters say that the USA team did not play with the same urgency as Ghana played in their game and lost.

Finally there have been allegations that Bruce Arena did not make the best choices for the team. The main comment is the US's in ability to score goals. This is due to the fact that US plays with a lone striker which hurts the offense. Also, he did not but in the teams best players when needed.

Whats up world?