There you have it. Soccer in the United States will be buried and forgotten for the next four years or longer. Thanks to their poor showing in the 2006 World Cup, never again will anyone believe the yanks can win a World Cup title. It's done. The U.S. will never be a world class team. Fire Bruce Arena, show Landon Donovan the door. America will never be a soccer nation.

Blah, blah, blah. I'm sick of hearing the doomsdayers and naysayers crying into their fake Uncle Sam beards about the death of soccer in the U.S. Emotions turn from grief to anger, obscuring a few facts worth holding onto. First, the U.S. was placed in an extremely difficult group. It would have surprised no one if we lost to both Italy and the Czechs. We were underdogs in both matches. Put the U.S. in Germany or Spain's group (both loaded with paper tigers) and today we'd all be talking about possible quarterfinal opponents.

Second, a poor tournament showing does not equal a failure of the entire sport in this nation. I'm sure the French care just about as much for their team after they crashed in 2002 as they did when Les Bleus took home the cup in '98. I'm sure the French still loved their team when they didn't even qualify in 1994. The Netherlands missed World Cup 2002 after finishing fourth in 1998. Is the sport of football in decline in Holland? Doubtful. I would like to believe that Americans are smart enough to realize this was a failure on the part of one team, in one tournament. Or so I hope.

Yes, football is obviously much better established in France and Holland than in the U.S and thus more able to survive the natural peaks and valleys of tournament play. Certainly a stronger showing by the yanks would have drawn in more American fans. But in my opinion America's failure to advance this year will have very little effect on the popularity of the sport in this country. Those who care are disappointed and angry. Of course I wanted to see "my team" do better. But I won't give up caring because we lost. I don't stop caring about basketball when "my team", the Arizona Wildcats lose.

And those who never cared in the first place? They are probably shrugging their shoulders in ambivalence. Besides, haven't we been here before? The U.S. finished dead last in 1998. Four years later, we were in the quarterfinals. I hope that 2006 will be just a minor dip in the upward trajectory of the U.S. National team. 2010 here we come!

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With no Tivo to rely upon, I've found myself watching rebroadcasts of World Cup games on Galavision. I don't understand a word the announcers are saying, but they are still better than Dave O'Brien and Marcelo Balboa. Well, I do know a few Spanish words and phrases, such as "gol", "pelota" and "diving Italians". But what the hell does "tiro de esquina" mean and why are the announcers so excited when they say it? Turns out that phrase means corner kick. I learned that from this helpful page, which translates common soccer terms from English to Spanish. So if you're watching a partido and want to know what sombrerito means, by all means check that site out.