Getting bounced from the World Cup seems so final.  When you loose, there is no “next year.” You are dun-ski. The only thing I can compare it to is loosing in the NCAA Tournament.

These two events are the most passion filled tournaments on the planet, and it’s too bad that most Americans will tune the World Cup out at this point. Players wear their hearts on their sleeves and their countries flags proudly on their chests. The World Cup is a special tournament where one goal or one missed call by a referee makes the difference in winning or losing it’s any teams match. Truly, “one game changes everything.”  There are no seven game series to make sure the best team eventually wins more games than the inferior team.  It’s about getting hot, and getting some breaks- just like the NCAA Tournament.

For Ghana, a country smaller than Oregon and a population of less that 25 million, to beat the United States is an unimaginable upset. I’m all about Cinderella’s - I was at Gonzaga for the initial Elite 8 run, afterall.  For that reason, and for the fact at their entire country was watching the match today (and will be celebrating with pride for the next week), a part of me is happy that Ghana won today.

As they move on to the knock-out stages of the World Cup, I hope the clock never strikes midnight for this squad.