All across the world this morning, from homes and bars and even a sleek Chinese stadium you could hear a staccato, a dull thumping. That was the sound of American soccer fans' heads meeting the nearest hard object.
          
Today, the Americans hit a new low: Needing only a draw to progress to the quarterfinal round, they managed to lose the game, 2-1 to Nigeria, instead. Playing 86 minutes plus stoppage time with ten men after Michael Orozco was bounced in the fourth minute for a needless elbow, the Americans were outplayed, outscored and out of luck.
          
There is a seething frustration that comes with being a modern American soccer fan, a subset of the species who root for their boys at ungodly hours of the morning in places they'll never lay eyes on and often come away shattered for it.
          
All the things that American fans have told themselves over the years would help their team have come true, after all. The players are full professionals, many playing at decent European teams; ten of millions of dollars have been spent on the sport's infrastructure; and the media - which once looked at the sport the way one espies a drooling madman in an alley - shows more soccer in the States than virtually anywhere else in the world.
          
And still, the Americans lose. Cue the drooping heads, wringing hands, stomping feet, and breakable objects.
          

Sadly, this Olympic performance was true to type for an American team that cannot seem to get past type. For years, the USA has been slowly improving in terms of raw talent, but remains deficient in execution and tactics. And while the Americans no longer look a hairs-breadth away from collapse at any given moment, as they did just ten years ago, the fact remains that they still cannot get over the hump.
          
This departure from China is especially painful, because for the first time the American men actually seemed to improve as a team as they went along.
          
Normally, the USA plays three distinct games - one average, one superb, and one stinker, in a row, but not necessarily in that order. This time around, the USA played their stinker first, dodging many bullets against a Japanese side that could do everything but score, and came away with the win in spite of it. Next, they played impressively against the Dutch, but threw away their quarterfinal berth due to problems of their own devise.
          
Tonight, the Americans came out looking solid. Despite not having Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley available, the team played brightly, with good wide play and the kind of heart and effort everyone knows the guys bring to the table.

"This is the worst feeling I've had as a professional athlete after a loss in a tournament because I couldn't be out there with the guys," said Adu afterwards. "Watching from the stands, it wasn't a great feeling."
          
It's the head they lack. That showed early when Orozco elbowed Solomon Okoronkwo on the touchline, with ref Wolfgang Stark getting a bird's eye view.
          
From that point on, the Americans had to retreat into a shell. Robbie Rogers was forced into an uncomfortable role at left back, and the Nigerians danced through the flanks, finally breaking through in the 40th minute when Chinedu Obasi beat both Michael Parkhurst and Marvell Wynne to slot a cross to Promise Issac for the go-ahead goal. The hammer came down in the 80th when Victor Obinna again beat Parkhurst and Wynne to give Brad Guzan no chance.
          
The USA did fight back, with Sacha Kljestan sinking a late penalty kick after keeper Ambruse Venzekin felled Maurice Edu at the edge of the penalty area. And late sub Charlie Davies headed a free-kick served in by Dax McCarty onto the cross-bar in the dying seconds that would have been enough to take the Americans through.
          
Last but not least, the USA saw the back-door closed when Holland was awarded a penalty against Japan, which the Dutch converted, to win that game.
         
Once more, the Americans go home, and the rest of the world cheers. For a country so good at sports, the USA just cannot seem to grasp this simple game. And it hurts.

          
It is true that the USA team is better. But "better" isn't good enough.
          
To succeed the Americans are going to have to take the next, painful step and go outside the country for help with coaching and teaching and especially for the new ideas a fresh look would bring. Americans have been trying to tell themselves for years that we are producing coaches and administrators of quality, but it's not true. Were it, many Americans would be coaching top clubs overseas, and more teams would be looking to our nation for help improving the game.
          
At one point, "Americanization" was a useful fiction, but no more. U.S. Soccer is going to have to clean house from top to bottom and realize that producing raw talent isn't enough. It wasn't tonight in Beijing, and it won't be in Johannesburg.  

One last. late point: Nowak was quoted after the game as saying: "For me, they won a gold medal in this game tonight." A coach has to protect his players, but I hope he doesn't believe that.

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How did the American players end up faring?

Before the games, we told you what each player needed to show in China: Here's our winners and losers.
 
THE OVERAGE PLAYERS: All-in-all, a failure. Michael Parkhust was not effective enough on defense to justify his inclusion, and Brian McBride only had one really influential game. Guzan's role was iffy: He made some solid saves, but was he that much better a keeper that he justified keeping a midfielder off the roster? In the end, it's a toss-up - the USA surely could have used an Ante Razov or a Taylor Twellman in this tournament.

DEFENDERS: Orozco was the poorest defender on the team, and his foolish ejection cost the USA dearly. His international career may have taken a fatal hit in China. Marvell Wynne was in-and-out; his speed and passing remain good, but he gets beat too often on the flanks - a weakness Chinedu Obasi ably exploited today for the Nigerians - that he has to be a big question mark as well. Maurice Edu, playing out of position, was serviceable, but not great. Patrick Ianni, for obvious reasons, gets no rating, same for keeper Chris Seitz.

MIDFIELDERS: Let's start with the good: Sacha Kljestan and Stuart Holden showed they are gamers. Kljestan was probably the best overall player the USA had during this three-game span and deserves the MVP honors. Holden had a solid, workmanlike tournament that wasn't flashy, but proved vital. The obvious black mark on him was the foul on Gerald Sibon that set up the tying goal for Holland.

Freddy Adu looked, once more, like the best player on the team... but when the so-called "big-time" player isn't in your biggest game, it's hard to give him the highest honors. Still, he's clearly the class of the squad. Michael Bradley's performance continues to tail off. Bradley faded in and out and never really seemed able to impose himself. Is he played out? Or, is he going through what so many Americans have before: One good season followed by mediocrity? Too early to tell, but there's no doubt about is his lack of maturity: taking a stupid caution for time-wasting in the dying seconds of the Holland game hurt his team badly.

Danny Szetela really didn't get much of a chance to shine, but looked promising in what flashes he had. Ditto for Dax McCarty. Benny Feilhaber still looks very out of sorts - he could well be another guy who had one good tournament only to be derailed by injury and club struggles. Last, Robbie Rogers was asked to play all over the field, and he did it. Give him marks for effort and versatility if nothing else.

FORWARDS: We've already mentioned McBride. How about Jozy Altidore? Well, again, in the biggest game, he failed to show. How much of that is due to the fact that he hasn't played very much because of his transfer to Villarreal, we'll never know. But, again, a "big-game" guy couldn't make it happen this time around. Charlie Davies didn't get much of a look, but what we saw of him was blistering.

THE COACH: Peter Nowak made some very questionable decisions. Pulling Adu in the Holland match was a fatal error that took away the Americans' ability to hold the ball and move forward in the decisive final 10 minutes. His over-age player choices are very debatable. The defense looked shaky all tournament long. And, most damningly, the team did not display the kind of tactical acumen the USA needs to succeed at the top level of play.

But every coach is defined by one thing: Wins. The USA went 1-1-1, and crashed out. We said that the minimum Nowak needed to keep his job was four points, and he got them. But we hope that the Federation realizes that this tournament was another lost opportunity, and that the team badly needs fresh ideas and fresh blood. U.S. Soccer should thank Nowak and move on.

RELATED: Former Olympian Kasey Keller will be announced as the newest member of the Seattle Sounders according to published reports today.