In the end, U.S. can't get it done

BEIJING -- The U.S. men's soccer team is out of the Olympics after its 2-1 loss to Nigeria on Wednesday. And while the Americans did plenty of commendable things in this tournament -- gutting out a 1-0 win over Japan, controlling the second half against the Netherlands in a 2-2 tie, refusing to accept a 2-0 deficit with 10 men against Nigeria -- the cold-truth headline has to be this:

U.S. MEN WASTE CHANCE FOR OLYMPIC GLORY WITH RASH OF FOOLISH CARDS.

The U.S. was already in trouble heading into the Nigeria game thanks to the yellow-card suspensions of Freddy Adu (its most creative player) and MichaelBradley (the U.S. player with the best pedigree). Both suspensions had been triggered by unwise late-game yellows against Holland: one for Adu's overly aggressive challenge on the Dutch goalkeeper and the other for Bradley's time-wasting before a free kick.

Then there was Stuart Holden's yellow-card foul in the last minute of stoppage-time against the Dutch, which allowed Gerald Sibon's free-kick goal to rip a quarterfinal berth from the U.S.' hands.

But defender Michael Orozco's third-minute red card for elbowing Nigeria's Solomon Okoronkwo on Wednesday took the U.S.'s epidemic of dumb cards to new and baffling heights.

"It changed the game completely," said U.S. coach Peter Nowak

Make no mistake, the 22-year-old Orozco's expulsion was deserved. You can't cock your arm and elbow a player in soccer and expect to get away with it, especially when a referee like German Wolfgang Stark is standing right next to you. To make matters worse, it was Orozco's inexperienced left back replacement, Robbie Rogers, who would lose Promise Isaac in the U.S. box on the first Nigerian goal.

All the while Adu and Bradley watched in growing horror from a box in the stands at Workers' Stadium -- first as the U.S. fell behind Nigeria and then as the Netherlands vaulted ahead of the Americans with a penalty-kick goal in the 73rd minute of its 1-0 win over Japan in Shenyang. "It's the worst feeling I've had yet as a professional after losing in a tournament," Adu said afterward.

Wearing oversized headphones through the mixed zone after the game, Orozco refused to answer repeated questions from SI.com.

Yet the U.S. rallied despite being down a man, creating four solid goal-scoring chances in the first 15 minutes of the second half but failing to convert. Nigeria's Victor Obinna doubled the advantage with a 79th-minute goal, but the U.S. nearly pulled both goals back in a torrid finish. Sacha Kljestan buried a penalty kick in the 88th minute after Maurice Edu was brought down in the box, and substitute forward Charlie Davies slammed a header against the Nigerian crossbar in the 90th minute that would have put the Americans through to the quarterfinals had it gone in.