Nigeria eliminates U.S. men in soccer, 2-1

By Grahame L. Jones, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

An elbow thrown in anger and a header that was just a few inches too high.

That, on Wednesday, was what separated the U.S. men's Olympic soccer team from a place in the tournament quarterfinals and instead put the players and coaches on a flight back home.

A 2-1 loss to Nigeria in front of 48,096 at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing ended American participation in soccer in the Games, at least on the men's side of things. The U.S. women on Friday play Canada in a quarterfinal match.

Nigeria eliminates U.S. men in soccer, 2-1....