Five things we learned from Beijing

Five things that we learned from the U.S. Olympic soccer team's short campaign in the 2008 Beijing Games:

1) Maurice Edu is not a defender
Ok, so most of us knew this before the Games started. Most of us, except that is U.S. coach Peter Nowak apparently who put him in position to fail miserably. Not only should the centerback be experienced in his defensive duties, he should also know the duties of everyone else, as the anchor of the backline. That's why many national teams select centerbacks to captain the team because most of them are already leaders on the pitch. Mo's a good midfielder; he's not a defender. And can I ask why Peter Nowak brought Patrick Ianni (an actual defender) if he wasn't going to play him?

2) The U.S. still has a serious left back problem.

Michael Orozco was most certainly the weak link on this team. It was obvious from the first game against Japan -- when they ran up and down the left wing -- that he was a drowning man. Combine this desperation with a little frustration (and perhaps adrenaline) and what do you get? That's right, a red card just three minutes into the final, deciding match. Referee Wolfgang Starg's call was harsh, especially just three minutes in, but Orozco's lack of discipline surfaced well before that defining moment. And we all know how Germans feel about discipline.

3) Not everyone bought into Jozy hype.
By everyone, I mean coach Nowak. He was the same way with Adu back when he coached Freddy at DC United. He doesn't like people telling him that a player is talented and should play, even if they are and they should. Altidore, the hope for American goalscoring, played a total of 86 minutes in three matches. Not even a full game! And he still scored a goal.

4) Inexperience hurts, stupidity kills.
We could kill Orozco all day for his silly elbow, but the man really responsible for putting the U.S. in this position is Michael Bradley. The U.S. needed Bradley in its midfield, but he goes and picks up a second yellow card for time wasting -- TIME WASTING! This isn't inexperience; it's stupidity! He knew going into the match with the Dutch that he was carrying a yellow and that a second would mean that he would sit out the final match. Sure the U.S. was leading the match and few expected an injury-time equalizer. But even without clairvoyance Bradley's time-wasting maneuver helped no one but Nigeria.

5) Brian McBride isn't a leader of men (or boys).
Where the hell was McBride? When they first announced that Brian McBride would be one of the overage picks, I thought it was an inspired pick. After all, we needed his experience and the U.S. is certainly not long on goalscorers at the moment. But McBride was a complete nonfactor. He could certainly point to a lack of service but as the senior member of the team, he needed to track back and make himself a part of the action. And he needed to be a vocal leader on the team. Look, I've interviewed the guy before. I know he isn't the sharpest pencil in the box, but he is a world class player that would have had just as much impact on this match sitting on a couch in Illinois.

Editor's note: Here's a nice piece from Yanks Abroad writer Brent Latham on the U.S's performance.