I hate to say it but...

I do not believe that the US Men's National Team will do well in Germany. In fact, I would not be surprised if they lost every game. Like France 98 the US is in for a letdown for many reasons.

1. The US has a dismal record, as most non-European sides do, playing against European teams in Europe.
2. The US does not match up well against the Czechs and Italians. Both of those countries play very good defense and have world class goalkeepers. The inability for the US to score goals in their send-off tour will be magnified against these two European sides.
3. Ghana, the wildcard, has just as much talent as the US and could be the surprise of the group.

Even if the US do not succeed it would not be the end of the world. This is not the tournament that the US will truly break out to become a world power in soccer. That year will be 2010 in South Africa. In that tournament not only will the US be seeded so they would not be put in a "group of death." There will also be no team, except for South Africa, that will a have a homefield advantage since even the African countries that qualified for this years world cup are very far away from South Africa. The US will also finally have enough talent to compete with any team in the world without relying on luck.