The bottom line is that in 2002, we scored in the 4th minute against Portugal, this time we give up a goal in the 5th.
And as good as the US was in 2002, they still let a Polish team that was already eliminated, dominate them. They were lucky to get through.
The US team as is is built for one thing, beating Mexico. That's nice, but that alone won't get you very far in the World Cup, especially on the European continent.
Don't see how we could be built to be European or South American powers, not with our lack of talent compared to other nations.
We don't have one player remotely close to Michael Essien, for example, and Ghana is considered weak.