The USA threw away a win today in a critical group stage match against Holland, allowing a stoppage-time goal by Gerald Sibon to settle for a 2-2 draw. A bad foul by Stuart Holden on Sibon set up a free-kick 22 yards out that the forward kept on the floor as the wall jumped. The ball slipped past a rooted Brad Guzan.
     
The result tossed away best game the Americans had played in years, and it gets worse: both Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu picked up their second cautions of the tournament meaning that the USA will go into their final game against Nigeria without their key midfielders.

Nigeria won today's earlier match against Japan, eliminating the Asians and setting up the possibility that three teams in the group could finish on five points. But, as the USA remains atop the group on goals scored, a draw against Nigeria should be enough to take the Americans into the quarterfinals.
    
"It's tough," said coach Peter Nowak in the post-game poress conference. "As I told the guys in the locker room, that's the way the game goes sometimes. Not too many people gave us a chance tonight against the European champions, but we were very close to beating them."

It was a bitter coda to a game that the Americans had well in hand from the 15-minute mark on. Superb play from Adu, target man Brian McBride and midfielder Sacha Kljestan had helped lead the USA to a well-deserved 2-1 lead with 17 minutes left, but Holden's foolish challenge left the door wide open for the Dutch to come back.

"The one thing we've been doing is improving as we go along,"said McBride, "Tonight was a good game for us. We're of course disappointed that they scored the equalizer, but we just need to make sure we get this out of our head and concentrate on the positives. When we're together, we're a good team."
     
On a sloppy field soaked by a day of rain, the Dutch jumped out to an early lead against the run of play when Ryan Babel tucked in his own rebound after Johnathan De Guzman's cross found the Liverpool striker with space in the box. Looping the ball in over Maurice Edu, De Guzman's cross was parried into Brad Guzan, who made the first save, but Babel followed it with a short range blast that beat a helpless Michael Parkhurst on the line.
     
Early on, the Dutch were far more potent on the flanks, getting nice service from Roy Drenthe and forcing the U.S. midfield back to cover their wingbacks, Michael Orozco and Marvell Wynne. In fact, Orozco showed many of the same nerves that bedeviled him against Japan in the opener, but unlike then, he settled down and began both getting forward and making the key stops. Wynne was beaten repeatedly in what was an overall weak performance from the Toronto FC man.
     
But, after a fine individual run by Freddy Adu in the 17th minute that saw the petite playmaker round four Dutchmen, the Americans began to sense the truth: their opponents were not the Holland of legend, but rather an U-23 team wearing the Netherland's colors.

A flurry of chances ensued as the Americans began to press, with Holden taking a great chance on the volley in the 40th minute set up by McBride's touch. Dutch keeper Kenneth Vermeer made the first of a series of spectacular saves. Wynne would get a chance two minutes later but his cross, beating Vermeer, found no support.
     
The Americans emerged far sharper in the second half, with McBride putting a header on goal in the 50rth that Vermeer again had to parry over the bar. It was another fabulous effort by the Fire striker who saw little of the ball on the night overall, but made every single touch count.
     
Adu began to impress himself on the game and his effort led to the tying goal. Adu beat Kew Jaliens and left a ball for Klejstan in the 65th minute that the Chivas man calmly slotted right down the gut after eluding defenders with a neat left-to-right run.
     
Seven minutes later, sub Jozy Altidore put the Americans on top. Coming in for Robby Rogers, Altidore's size and speed made an immediate impact. Off a throw-in by Wynne, Orozco raced to the far post and cut the ball past Vermeer. Taking a deflection off Calvin Jong-a-Pin, the ball caromed off Altidore's knee and into the back of the net.
    
The Americans did not sit back, with Adu continuing to run down balls and playing into space. He received his critical booking in the 78th when he was over-enthusiastic one-on-one with Vermeer and left his studs up, felling the keeper.
    
That resulted in what may go down as a critical mistake made by coach Peter Nowak. Possibly worried about Adu getting another card, Nowak subbed the best player of the day for the still gimpy Benny Feilhaber. Adu was visibly perturbed by the move as he came off the field.
     
Without Adu pulling the strings, the Dutch suddenly found far more space in which to work, and began throwing bodies forward in an attempt to tie the game. Bradley took his card in the first minute of stoppage time for time-wasting, and the USA seemed rudderless and exhausted on the heavy pitch.
     
Holden's awful challenge gave the Dutch the opening they needed, and when McBride jumped in the wall, Sibon slipped the ball underneath him and into the net.

"Going into that situation, knowing it's basically going to be the last chance of the game, as a goalkeeper you've got to trust the wall and unfortunately tonight the wall decided they were going to go up and over and they went under," sadi Guzan. "We jumped and he hit a screamer low and hard, and when that happens there's not much chance as my main focus is the other side of the goal. Unfortunately, we just picked the wrong option tonight."

The result leaves Nowak with some tough decisions: how does he line up the midfield without Adu and Bradley? Does he stick with his 4-4-2 formation or go for a more defensive look against Nigeria knowing a draw should mean a quarterfinal berth?

And the Americans, too, will face a character test. Having worked so hard on a heavy field only to see a quarterfinal spot disappear, how will they manage the needed recovery, both physically and mentally?