world cup over for the usa

Italy did its best to help the US, beating the Czechs 2-1. But two egregious defensive errors -- one of them compounded by a terrible decision by the ref to call a penalty -- bounced the US out of the World Cup, losing 2-1 to Ghana.

Not as bad as '98, but... I know it was a very difficult group (Ghana the toughest of the qualifying African teams), but I'd hoped the US could sneak through.