It was never a question of if the United States would score against Colombia in Monday’s second round match at the women’s World Cup. It was a question of when. The answer should have come in the 47th minute, when Alex Morgan was taken down by Colombia’s goalkeeper and awarded a penalty kick. Instead, Abby Wambach provided a poetic metaphor for everything that has ailed the U.S. throughout this World Cup run.

Presented with shining opportunity to go up 1-0, Wambach just needed to convert her kick from the spot and the U.S. could begin setting their sights on China in the quarterfinals.

She missed the kick. She missed the entire goal. The miss on its own is nothing. It happens to the best of players. But it’s how she missed that is, still, utterly ludicrous. Wambach opted to take the penalty with her weaker left foot. Why? It’s inexplicable. Wambach is one of the great headers of the ball. If she had taken the penalty kick with her head, the ball would have at least been on frame and it would have made sense.

But it was a decision, like most decisions the U.S. has made over the course of this World Cup, that flies against logic and ability.

The U.S. stands three wins away from a World Cup victory. It would be the team’s first in 16 years. It would also be the ugliest. This has not been an attractive brand of soccer played by coach Jill Ellis’ team. It’s a rigid 4-4-2 formation, with an attack content to send hopeful balls in the air to the head of Abby Wambach or Alex Morgan in the hopes of either player springing free on goal, as Morgan did to earn the penalty kick.

The defense, anchored by Hope Solo, has conceded just one goal through four matches. It’s a lone bright spot in an otherwise dreary spectacle. Ellis has cast Lauren Holiday as a central midfielder next to Carli Lloyd. Holiday has long thought of herself as a striker, but in Ellis’ antiquated system, she has found herself wandering midfield. It wouldn’t be a bad role for Holiday to play, if she was allowed the freedom to sit in front of Lloyd and play off Wambach and Morgan. However, that would require Lloyd to sit defensively and switch the point of possession from either side, something she’s been unwilling or unable to do all tournament.

So instead, Lloyd and Holiday have floundered in the center of the field, each trying to be defensive and attacking center midfielders at the same time. When the ball finds the feet of Megan Rapinoe on the flank, the rest of the team appears content to watch her in hopes that she does something special. In fairness to Rapinoe, she has been involved in four of the five goals the U.S. has scored this tournament, including scoring two herself. But Rapinoe has been suspended for the team’s next match due to yellow card accumulation, leaving the U.S. void of its most dynamic midfielder and most of its goalscoring.

The U.S.’s saving grace could very well be the speed, strength, and finishing of Alex Morgan. After limited playing time in the first two matches of the tournament, Morgan has started and played significant time, scoring her first goal of the tournament against Colombia. The U.S.’s hopes of advancing past China, and anyone else, lie with Morgan.

It’s a remarkable fact to consider, when you look back on U.S. teams of old. Look back at the ’99 team who won with players like Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, Kristine Lilly, and Briana Scurry, and you begin to realize how one-dimensional the 2015 team is. It isn’t a wistful “back in my day” comparison. Over the past 16 years, the U.S. has slowly turned from robust and innovative team filled with dynamic players into a team pinning its hopes on being able to outrun its opponent.

What’s difficult to understand about the current state of this group is that there is ability – technical, mental, and physical – to play an attractive, effective style. There’s also a desire from within the team to do just that. So what is preventing them from doing so? Does it come down to coaching style? Or perhaps it’s a 13-year veteran with a penchant for weak-footed penalties.

There is surely enough blame to be shared, but the majority should lie at the feet of Ellis and U.S. Soccer management. It’s difficult to read quotes from players like Akers, Chastain, and Foudy about their desire to influence the next generation, and wonder why Ellis and technical director April Heinrichs haven’t tapped the knowledge they so clearly are willing to share. It’s frustrating to see a team that once exemplified how the game should be played, settle with tactics you’re more likely to see on U-14 soccer field any given Sunday.

After every match, the murmurs from those inside and outside the team are the same. The U.S. is better than this. The U.S. should be better than this. The U.S. will be better than this.

But maybe, the U.S. isn’t better than this. Maybe, this is what the U.S. has become. And maybe, for the first time, people are realizing it has to change.