It really seemed like they might do it.
The move started in their own half and lasted for nearly a full minute. It featured 13 passes of varying levels of intricacy, pushing the ball patiently forward, working it from left to right. An initial thrust toward goal was denied, possession cycled backward, but then just enough space appeared: A playmaker got on the ball on the half-turn between the defensive and midfield lines, slipped a through ball to the center forward, whose perfect first touch set up a cool finish past the keeper at the near post.
It's everything we've wanted from the United States for years: a team-wide ability to create chances out of patient possession, someone with the vision to make the right passes around the penalty area, and a striker who would make the right runs and finish his chances. It couldn't have come at a better time, either; it appeared the goal would push the Americans into the quarterfinals of the Copa América.
Unfortunately, the goal wasn't actually scored by the Americans. For two or three minutes in the second half on Tuesday, Bolívia had evened up the score with Panama 1-1, while the U.S. was still scoreless with Uruguay. Gregg Berhalter & Co. were going through! Until a Uruguay goal off a set piece, followed by two more goals by Panama, and ... disaster.
The U.S. came into the tournament with something like an 85% chance of advancing, and yet they just got dumped out of the Copa América in the group stages with a 1-0 loss.
But it's not even that, really. Weird stuff can happen in international tournaments -- even to the best teams. The bigger issue is the way they went out -- not just losing in a must-win game at home, but only attempting eight shots and not creating a single chance of note. Uruguay is a good team, but it's not France or Argentina.
Sure, there are plenty of questions about the coaching, but with two years to go until the World Cup and not another competitive game of real value before then, the USMNT's golden generation seems like it might be stuck.