The Win Done Ghana.

Well, that’s that, then. Ghana knocks the US out of the Cup with a 2-1 victory that may have hinged partly on a questionable PK. (Being in research mode, I didn’t see the game — Still, it seems like a lot of the games this Cup have swung on bad calls, and we needed a win, not a tie, regardless.) Oh well, there’s always 2010, I guess. At any rate, congrats to Ghana on getting through, and here’s hoping the Togo Sparrow Hawks can play spoiler to France tomorrow

Czech yourself, soccer fans.

Ugh. And I thought Miami’s performance last night was bad: America’s hopes for this Cup pretty much wither away entirely after an egregious 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic this morning. The US now must beat — or maybe tie — Italy this Saturday to have any chance of moving on to the second round…It’s not looking good.

Joga Bonito, trabalho feio.

As if the Dallas-Miami NBA Finals (ok, I was way off) weren’t sports bliss enough ’round these parts, the 2006 World Cup has begun, with host Germany defeating Costa Rica 4-2 and Ecuador besting Poland 2-0 on Day 1. Alas, since I have to maximize my research time while I’m briefly back in the 202, and since the Manuscript Reading Room of the Library of Congress aggravatingly keeps bankers’ hours (and charge $0.20 a photocopy, but that’s a whole ‘nother rant), it looks like I’ll be missing much of the first round. But I promise to make it up on the back end.

Offsides.

Iraq’s Olympic soccer team ask to be removed from Bush re-election ads. “‘My problems are not with the American people,’ says Iraqi soccer coach Adnan Hamad. ‘They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything.'” Sorry, y’all…it’s just that Dubya has very little to fall back on these days. It’s not like he can campaign on his domestic record.

Own Goal.

In a sad day for soccer fans across the nation, the WUSA goes under. I’m a bit annoyed with myself about this – Every time I saw an ad for the WUSA, I thought about going to a match (even if it meant getting off the island), and I never did. I’d have much preferred it if the WNBA had folded and the WUSA – where the level of play was much more comparable, if not superior, to that of MLS – had continued. One forgets how tenuous the beautiful game’s hold is here Stateside.