U.S. Soccer Jozy AltidoreJust as soon as the U.S. soccer team finally captured the country's imagination, they bowed out of the World Cup.

As our friends at With Leather report, today U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati labeled the U.S. team's second-round exit as a "disappointment" and a "missed opportunity." He added that he believed the team was "capable of more."

Yes, losing to Ghana in a hard-fought match stung, especially considering that many prognosticators both at home and abroad had predicted the U.S. would advance. But was it really such a shocking defeat?

Sure, Ghana is an economically underdeveloped country with only 24 million people. But soccer is the only team sport they play, whereas in large pockets of America, the best athletes will still choose an obscure sport like lacrosse over soccer. And that says nothing of the pull that sports like football, baseball and basketball have on the types of athletes we would need to be a world-class soccer team.

In the 2010 World Cup, the U.S. was able to win a group that included traditional soccer power England. And while we're all disappointed that they lost on Saturday, is it really realistic to say that U.S. soccer failed to meet expectations?

Did the U.S. team underperform at the World Cup?
Yes -- they could have made the semi-finals, but they blow it437 (30.9%)
No -- they did about as well as expected considering their talent level615 (43.4%)
I don't care -- I still don't get this soccer-thing364 (25.7%)