Ah yes, there’s nothing worse than the day after a big loss when you realize the party is over. There won’t be a tomorrow for our boys.

Of course, the World Cup will continue for the rest of the world. Maybe we should adopt Costa Rica the rest of the way. Americans do love the underdogs.

The U.S. performance definitely pulled in non-traditional soccer fans to the World Cup. Now will they still be interested in watching how this thing turns out? It will be another litmus test to gauge soccer’s progress in the U.S.

*******

The preliminary numbers are in for yesterday’s game, and they are big. ESPN pulled a 9.6 overnight rating, the best ever for a soccer game in the U.S. The final ratings numbers will be out later today.

That’s a huge rating, considering the game aired during a weekday afternoon. Clearly, there had to be big numbers in the East, as the extra time crept into prime time.