So, Project 2010 didn’t quite work out, after all. The plan, back in 1998, that would make the United States a serious contender for the 2010 World Cup championship … well, it’s 2010 and we’re not there yet, as demonstrated by this: Ghana 2, U.S. 1.

But we could argue that this U.S. team, flawed as it was, still was the strongest overall that the nation has sent to a World Cup.

No real complaints about the result tonight. Ghana was better and deserved to win, but the pluck of the Yanks kept them in it till exhaustion rendered them inert in the 30 minutes of extra time that was required to yield a result.

First, let’s get the goats out of the way.

–Ricardo Clark. Not a bad guy, and he’s had some nice moments for U.S. soccer. (He had the only goal in a key qualifier.) But as long as Americans remember the 2010 World Cup they will recall that Clark gave away the ball at midfield just five minutes into the match, a takeaway by Kevin Prince Boateng that led to a one-man dash to the goal, past Jay DeMerit, and a blistering left-footed shot past Tim Howard.  Anyone who has seen more than five soccer matches was thinking “oh, noooo!” when Clark was stripped — with nothing but grass behind him. Maybe the mistake haunted him, because Clark stunk it up till the 31st minute when Bob Bradley yanked him for Maurice Edu, the sort of early sub-out that humiliates a player — but had to be done.

–Carlos Bocanegra. Hard to get down on the U.S. captain, but when the game opened up, after the U.S. tied on Landon Donovan’s penalty … it did not require great analytical skills to imagine Boca finishing second to a Ghana guy in a dash into the penalty box. That unfortunate event came three minutes into extra time when Asamoah Gyan controlled the ball just inside the U.S. half and made up about 10 yards on Bocanegra by the time he reached the box — and before DeMerit could get over to help — putting a shot over Howard’s head from close range. Boca never had great speed and what little he had is about gone. Can’t play this game if you can’t run.

–Bob Bradley. You lose in the World Cup, the coach catches some heat. Bradley was fine, once the match started. It was that lineup card that was his team’s downfall. Ricardo Clark was directly responsible for England’s goal in the opener and then sat two matches, and suddenly he was back in the starting 11 at defensive midfielder? Huh? (Meaning he was the primary defender on devastating goals in the opening minutes of two matches.) And the return of Robbie Findley to the lineup, another mistake. Findley did almost nothing in most of three matches, but Bradley kept running him out there to pair with Jozy Altidore up top. Perhaps because he hoped he could play like Charlie Davies? He never did.

In Bradley’s defense, he corrected the Clark problem in the 31st minute (but not till it was 1-0 Ghana) and the Findley problem at half, subbing Benny Feilhaber for him and moving Clint Dempsey to forward. The lineup the Yanks had in the 46th minute should have been what they started with, and the two substitutions burned to correct his mistakes left Bradley able to put on only one more guy (the ineffective Herculez Gomez) when the game stretched into extra time and his team badly needed an energy injection.

I’m done with goats and, as you can tell, I’m not prepared to rip anyone. Because we’re back to the “Ghana was better” thing.

Ghana is a reminder to us that U.S.  soccer has always been burdened by its inability to attract elite American athletes. They’re all over in the NFL and the NBA and even MLB. Soccer gets the leavings, the little guys with fine-motor skills and big lungs.

In our neighborhood, North America, we have plenty of size and speed to be a power. But when the Yanks get up against a team like Ghana, or even England … the lack of U.S. athleticism becomes obvious. You see it in how our guys have no time and no room to play. How they are always under pressure they don’t seem able to escape. Nearly any 1-on-1 is going to end badly … same as any 50-50 ball or anything in the air.

Maybe this was most telling: Perhaps half of all the U.S. dead-ball restarts in the attacking half tonight … were played short. Instead of lofting it into the box, for the header-on-goal … our guys were just knocking it a few yards to a teammate to see if a better angle for an in-swinging kick could be found. (That’s what Mexico does when they play us.) Ghana was bigger and jumped better, and balls in the air in front of goal … were going to disappear into a black hole.

This athleticism issue will be a problem for the Yanks until guys playing cornerback in the NFL or point guard in the NBA start playing soccer, instead, and that won’t change until  soccer begins paying NBA/NFL money. (That is to say, probably never.) In soccer, we are playing with our 5-foot-10-and-under all-stars, and that’s enough to hang with Mexico and dominate Central America. It’s not enough against the big, bruising central Europeans or the fast and athletic Africans and South Americans.

The U.S. had a nice stretch to open the second half. Ghana seemed to be backing up a bit, and the Yanks had a nice run of holding the ball and moving it around, and after lots of probing finally got the penalty when Clint Dempsey got into the box and was chopped down. Landon Donovan converted the penalty (scraping the inside of the post) and it was 1-1.

A match to win, right? Uh, maybe not.

It appeared to me that, by then, the Yanks were exhausted. They had chased all four of their matches in this tournament, including two in four days. They just had nothin’, because trying to score requires more energy than defending.

By the end, it looked as if it were an act of great moral courage for any of the Americans to attempt to win a ball, because you could almost smell the lactic acid burning. I just didn’t see them scoring unless Ghana made a mistake of Ricardo Clark proportions.

What went right in 2010?

–The U.S. remains one of the planet’s best-conditioned teams. Bradley’s guys out-ran (in terms of miles) every opponent they faced. Had they not been supremely conditioned, no way do they 1) come back from 1-0 against England; 2) come back from 2-0 against Slovenia; 3) score in the 91st minute to avert disaster against Algeria or 4) come back from 1-0 and take a palpably better Ghana team into an extra half-hour.

–The U.S. remains one of the mentally toughest teams in the world. I have some news for you: Soccer players around the world are prone to give up. Quit. As much as any athletes anywhere. When they decide it isn’t their day, they just go through the motions. But the Yanks … they never thought they were out of a match. They still have the only comeback from a two-goal deficit in this tournament, and we’re 50 matches in now.

–Landon Donovan fixed that “legacy” issue by scoring three goals, giving him four World Cup goals in his career, most by an American. He led the comeback against Slovenia and scored the Mailslot Goal, he orchestrated and scored the winner against Algeria, he calmly banged home the penalty against Ghana. Landon bashers the world over are falling over themselves trying to get on his bandwagon (or should be), and I’m glad for him.

–Michael Bradley had a very nice tournament and figures to be a staple in midfield for a decade to come.

–Oguchi Onyewu wasn’t really healthy enough to contribute (that knee), and he was sorely missed — demonstrating his value. If he can get back to 90 percent of what he was a year ago …

–And Clint Dempsey, as maddening as he can be when he seems to disappear for stretches … he remains the most imaginative U.S. attacking player and scorer.

Long-term prospects for this side?

Hmm …

Does the nucleus of this team have another nice WC run in them?

In 2014, Tim Howard will be 35,  as will Carlos Bocanegra, Jay DeMerit and Steve Cherundolo. Have to think that all of them, aside from Howard, will be gone.

Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu, DaMarcus Beasley and Herculez Gomez will be 32, Clint Dempsey will be 31. On the back sides of their careers, that is, in a short-shelf-life sport. But maybe still able to contribute.

Who might be better in 2014 than now? Jozy Altidore, who will be 24. Michael Bradley, who will be 26. Maurice Edu, who will be 28. Maybe Francisco Torres and Stuart Holden, heading on 26 and 28, respectively. And maybe even Freddie Adu will make himself into something. In 2014 he still will be only 25 (or so he says).

So, a starting XI in Brazil 2014? Howard in goal, Jonathan Spector, Onyewu, Mystery Central Defender and Jonathan Bornstein across the back, Donovan, Dempsey, Edu and Bradley in midfield, Altidore and … somebody (Charlie Davies, if he recovers from all those injuries?) … up top.

And I would keep Bob Bradley as coach. He did far more things right than wrong. We prefer our coaches to be Yanks. Give him another shot.

Will that 2014 team be as good as this one? Probably not, because age will be creeping up on too many key guys. That could be solved if some kids break out, but the country seems to have stalled a bit on Great Young Players.

But remember this about 2014 — it’s in Brazil. All of the U.S. success since the Dawn of the U.S. Soccer Age (in 1989) has come in non-European World Cups. Out in three matches in 1990 (Italy), 1998 (France) and 2006 (Germany). Nine matches, one draw, eight defeats.

Meanwhile … second round in 1994 (USA), quarterfinals in 2002 (Korea), second round in 2010 (South Africa). Because 2014 is in Brazil … the U.S. already is in better shape.

Now that it’s over, the 2010 World Cup performance was about as good as this team could make it. We lacked great scorers, the defense was beat up, holding mid was an issue throughout. But this team had stamina and moxie. They weren’t jaded and they never gave up.

To win a group that included England, to score that dramatic goal to get to the second round … good stuff. Maybe we should have higher standards, but I think that constitutes a successful World Cup for the U.S., Project 2010 or not.

We may perhaps rue the missed chance to navigate the not-impossible path of Ghana and Uruguay into the semifinals; it may never be that “easy” again. But at this moment … the lads did well.