Round of 16 Results: Day 1

The USA's Landon Donovan is left to ponder what might have been.

Uruguay 2-1 South Korea
Uruguay scored their first goal on a lapse by the Korean keeper who, with more conviction, could have intercepted the ground-ball cross. The Koreans responded with an equalizer and controlled much of the run of play, but in the end, it was a spectacular individual goal by vaunted striker Luis Suarez that sees Uruguay through to the quarterfinals for the first time in 40 years.

Condolences to the sizable number of South Koreans in the pool... especially Banana Island who is a native and has followed her national side closely through the two years of qualification. They really were one of the brightest sides of the tournament playing an honest, uptempo, attacking brand of football. They exit with their heads held high having represented the Asian Confederation well with their best ever performance in a WC not on home soil.

United States 1-2 Ghana
The magic for Team USA ran out in extra time against a fundamentally sound Ghana side. The US continued their unfortunate trend of conceding early, giving away the first goal to Kevin-Prince Boateng on a comedy of errors -- starting with Ricardo Clark's giveaway in the midfield and ending with Tim Howard's failure to protect the inside post. Another comeback seemed in the cards when Donovan secured the equalizer on a penalty from a foul on a Dempsey run. As the extra time began the Yanks once again conceded in the opening minutes with poor defensive play on a long ball that Black Star Asamoah Gyan superbly controlled and finished despite being almost shouldered out by Bocanegra. Ghana's advance means Africa continue to have a rooting interest in the next round.

This was a painful exit for an American side who proved to be surprisingly entertaining through the Group Stage. Ultimately they went to the comeback well one too many times. Perhaps the most telling statistic of their campaign is that in 390 minutes of play, they only held the lead for 3. In looking at what the States need to improve it's clear their back line missed a healthy Oguchi Onyewu, but they also need better play from their strikers -- the last American forward to score a World Cup goal was Brian McBride in 2002. While we always knew the US had little chance to win the tournament, it certainly felt like an appearance in the quarters was attainable. The US World Cup ends in disappointment with the team meeting, but not exceeding, expectations. However American fans have something for which to be thankful -- Landon Donovan's game winner against Algeria put an American mark on WC2010 and produced a galvanizing moment for soccer fans nationwide.