One point and two goals - pretty clear evidence that US Soccer was out of its league at the 2006 World Cup. There are plenty of excuses: We were in a tough group with Italy, Czech Republic and Ghana. And we had the bad luck to play the Czechs first; before fatigue, injury and cards cut them down to size. But when you looked at the play on the pitch, there was no question that US Soccer was outclassed.

Now, it’s back to the drawing board. It’s four long years before we can prove that we deserve to be on the World Cup pitch.