U.S. ELIMINATED From World Cup

After emerging from Group C by the skin of their teeth thanks to Landon Donovan's last minute heroics, the USA now find themselves with as easy a road to the semifinals as they are likely to have in any World Cup. Uruguay awaits in the quarterfinals after beating South Korea, and while they have been playing outstanding so far this tournament, they are not as formidable as Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands or Spain, all of whom the U.S. has mercifully avoided in their bracket.

But first they will have to defeat Ghana, a country that was responsible for sealing the USA's exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany on a controversial penalty kick. The Black Stars proved difficult to break down at the back in their group games, and they are by far the most strategically disciplined of the African squads. Add in home field advantage and being the only remaining hope for the continent, and you can see why Ghana may prove a major obstacle to the USA's chances of advancing.

At the same time they failed to score a goal in the run of play during their first three games. (Both of their strikes have come from the penalty spot,) And so if Michael Bradley can once again dominate the play through midfield as he so often has this World Cup, and the U.S. attackers can find a way to grab a goal, that could easily be enough to see them through. The one thing to worry about for the U.S. defense is Ghana's speed, given that the US back line is not the quickest. Yet if the U.S. can keep a clean sheet like they finally did against Algeria, there chances of going through without resorting to penalty kicks seem favorable.