The hopes of the U.S. national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup were washed away Thursday in a 2-1 loss to Ghana in Nuremburg, Germany. The loss eliminated USA from the tourney, while the win launched the Black Stars into the Round of 16 as the second place finisher from Group E.
Haminu Draman gave Ghana the lead in the 22nd minute, stealing the ball from Claudio Reyna's feet and beating U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller in a one-on-one opportunity. New England Revolution midfielder Clint Dempsey tied the match for the U.S. in the dying moments of the first half, one-timing a cross from DaMarcus Beasley.
The eventual game-winning goal came off a penalty kick coverted by Ghana's Stephen Appiah from two minutes into first-half stoppage time. Central defender Oguchi Onyewu was called for a penalty in the box when he bumped into Ghana's Razak Pimpong.
The United States entered the match needing a victory and help from the Italy-Czech Republic match, which they got in the form of Italy's 2-0 win. Italy qualifies for the knockout stage as the top finisher in Group E. The Czechs, who handed the U.S. a 3-0 defeat in the first Group D match, finished third in the group.
In their first World Cup appearance, the Black Stars advanced from a difficult group by defeating the Czechs and USA. Ghana will now await the winner of Group F on Tuesday in Dortmund.
Filing holes created by suspended defender Eddie Pope and midfielder Pablo Mastroeni, U.S. coach Bruce Arena inserted Kansas City Wizards' defender Jimmy Conrad and midfielder Eddie Lewis into the lineup.
The U.S. started the match with a sense of urgency, putting early pressure on the Ghana back line. In the fifth minute, midfielder Michael Essien, who stars for Chelsea FC in the English Premier League, received a yellow card for a rough tackle. That could prove costly to Ghana, which loses Essien's services in the next match.
Dempsey had the first shot on goal for the United States in the 17th minute, a header that went directly to Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kinson.
In the 22nd minute, Reyna, the U.S. captain and veteran of four World Cups, committed a rare mistake that cost his team and eventually knocked him out of the match. Playing deep in his own end on the right side, Reyna hesitated in making a pass and gave up the ball to a hard-charging Draman. The Ghana striker dribbled into the box and rocketed a shot into the far corner, past a diving Keller.
Reyna had to be stretched off after the goal with appeared to be pain in his knee as a result of Draman's tackle. While he tried to give it a go and re-entered the match, the pain proved to be too much for Reyna, who was substituted out in the 40th minute. D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen saw his first World Cup action in Reyna's place.
Similar to Ghana's goal, the U.S. scored off a passed intercepted by Beasley in Ghana's end. The former Chicago Fire midfielder took two touches, raced into left side of the box and coolly curled a pass across the middle to Dempsey, who fired a shot past Kingson.
The goal was the first of the tournament scored by a U.S. player. In the 1-1 draw with Italy, USA scored off an own goal.
Thoughts of the U.S. advancing were short-lived, though, as Ghana took advantage of a late call and converted a penalty kick in stoppage time. On a 50-50 ball in the box, Onyewu was called for barging into Pimpong from behind. Appiah sent Keller diving the other way and fired the game-winning goal into the upper left corner from the spot.
In the second half, the U.S. nearly knotted the match at 2-2 in the 66th minute off a header from former Columbus Crew striker Brian McBride. Lewis drove a cross from the left side, which McBride powered off the left post.
A minute later, Onyewu powered a header over the crossbar off a corner kick for another missed chance for the U.S.
Arena tried to insert offense into the lineup by adding Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson in place of Steve Cherundulo in the 61st minute, and midfielder Bobby Convey in the 83rd minute for Lewis. Despite pushing forward in the waning minutes of the match, the U.S. could not push across another score and will head home.
Patrick Mulrenin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
