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    Lack of discipline the ultimate downfall for U.S.

    By Jeff Carlisle, ESPNsoccernet

    Wednesday, August 13, 2008

    BEIJING -- If there was a competition judged solely on guts, the U.S. men's Olympic soccer team would be runaway gold-medal winners. Unfortunately, some other key attributes are needed just to progress to the knockout stages of this tournament. Qualities like discipline and a bit of luck are required as well. It was the absence of these traits that condemned the Americans to a 2-1 defeat to Nigeria, and when coupled with the Netherlands' 1-0 win over Japan, earned the U.S. a first-round exit at ...

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