The Americans showed an admirable fighting quality in staging several dramatic comebacks to force their way through to the knockout stages but their coach said giving away an early goal in the second round match at Rustenburg took a heavy toll.
"The fact we gave away a goal so quickly, it was going to be hard to get back," he said of the fifth minute strike by Ghana's Kevin-Prince Boateng that had the Americans on the back foot at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
"We put a lot into it trying to get back to 1-1. We put ourselves in that spot one too many times, expending too much energy."
"We felt we had the ability to go further. My initial feeling is disappointment that we didn't get past this game and continue to test ourselves," he said at a post-match news conference.
