culmination of years of poor management and bad PR.

Showing up to Tokyo with a squad that, at the end of the day, was simply not good enough to compete for an Olympic championship is just the icing on the cake.

The coaches either couldn't see the weaknesses, or ignored them. And, the media that is supposed to do independent critical analysis was interested only in the political puff pieces. I can't remember seeing or reading a single article with a genuine in-depth take on how the team was shaping up. But everybody who follows soccer has seen a steady parade of shallow articles on the transparently garbage equal pay "controversy."

It's embarrassing that this team was so untested and overrated. It's embarrassing that some of these players were on the squad when they were clearly not up for it. And it's embarrassing that the team has deliberately alienated so many fans along the way, when they should have been taking the sport and the team's popularity to new heights.

I sincerely hope lessons are learned and corrections made to repair some of the damage.