WORLD CUP ’90 : U.S. Takes Heart From Cameroon Victory : Soccer: Americans open against Czechs. Gansler denies report he’s quitting after Cup.

Encouraged by Cameroon’s 1-0 victory Friday night in Milan over defending champion Argentina that proved it is possible to overcome seemingly impossible odds in soccer’s World Cup, U.S. Coach Bob Gansler was awakened the next morning with a rude slap.

In Saturday’s International Herald Tribune, an English-language newspaper sold in many parts of the world, there was a front-page story that Gansler said he would resign after the World Cup.

The report originated with Agence France-Presse Friday out of Florence, the site of the United States’ opening game today against Czechoslovakia. It was news to Gansler, who seemed more bewildered than agitated.

“There’s no truth to that at all,” he said after the team’s workout Saturday morning at its training camp. “I wasn’t even in Florence yesterday.

“My wife is flying in today, and she’s probably going to read the paper and see that story and say, ‘Gee, I didn’t know that.’ ”

There has been media speculation almost from the day Gansler became the coach in January, 1989, that he will be replaced after the World Cup. Mentioned most often as his successor is Franz Beckenbauer, who announced months ago that he will resign as West Germany’s coach when the tournament ends on July 8.

Beckenbauer, one of the game’s magical names since leading West Germany to the 1974 World Cup championship, is a former New York Cosmos player who still owns a Park Avenue apartment. But he has repeatedly denied that he is interested in coaching the team, although he has indicated that he might consider a position with the 1994 World Cup organizing committee.

Also, U.S. Soccer Federation President Werner Fricker said in March that he is committed to Gansler, 49, through the 1994 World Cup, for which the United States, as the host country, is an automatic qualifier.

“One of my sons is always saying, ‘Life isn’t fair; life isn’t fair,’ ” said Gansler, who is from Milwaukee. “Now, I feel like him.

“The people who made the decision to hire me have never given me any reason to worry. They have certainly indicated to me their satisfaction with my work, even to the extent that Werner Fricker said, ‘Bob will be around in 1994.’

“I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to dwell on this, but why would somebody want to distract me now? It’s just unfair, blatantly unfair.”

Gansler said he does not believe the report will distract his players as they prepare for the United States’ first World Cup appearance since 1950.

“A couple of guys have said, ‘Hey Coach, what’s going on?’ ” he said. “My response to them was that I never stop surprising myself. I didn’t know this one, either.”

The Agence France-Presse referred to Gansler’s “love-hate” relationship with the players, but actually there appears to be little emotional involvement on either side. The relationship seems to be strictly professional.

“I don’t know whether I’m close or distant,” he said. “I’m me. I can kid around with them, I think. I can throw little digs their way, and they will throw them my way.

“But there’s got to be some distance. It’s not a buddy-buddy relationship, not a let’s-go-get-a-beer-together relationship. I’ll have mine with my friends, and they should have theirs with their friends.”

Players openly complained earlier this year that Gansler did not support them in their contract dispute with the federation. He said he was caught in the middle but understood their frustration since he was the players’ representative in a similar dispute with the federation while playing for the national team in 1969.

The players also were anxious because he kept the competition open for positions until last month. They wanted more security, but he said he needed to experiment to find the best 22 players.

Since becoming satisfied that he has accomplished that, there has been noticeably less tension around the U.S. team. It also has played better, going 5-2-1 in the final eight exhibition games before arriving here.

The players are so full of themselves that they were making jokes Saturday about Argentina, traditionally one of the world’s best teams.

Gansler said the team was bolstered by watching Cameroon’s upset victory over the Argentines on television.

“The team that won wasn’t supposed to have a chance,” he said. “The prohibitive favorites played below their expectations.

“Our guys felt good about that game, about watching it. They were rooting for Cameroon all along. I didn’t have to belabor the point. They can see it. They’re an intelligent lot. They know exactly the significance of what happened.”

The odds against Cameroon are not quite as long as they are against the United States, but then Czechoslovakia is not expected to be as formidable as Argentina. The Czechs certainly do not have a player in Diego Maradona’s class.

“I felt the Czechs were extremely capable in the qualifying last year, but they haven’t played up to that level since then,” Gansler said. “With what is going on in their country politically and socially, they certainly had to have been distracted.”

One player, midfielder Lubos Kubik, mentioned that he was disappointed because he could not be in Czechoslovakia last week for the country’s first democratic elections in almost half a century.

Today’s game is somewhat of a homecoming for Kubik, who plays for Florence in the Italian League. To earn that right, he defected from Czechoslovakia two years ago along with fellow midfielder Ivo Knoflicek, who plays in Hamburg, West Germany.

After the country’s revolution in November, Kubik and Knoflicek applied for reinstatement to the national team. Resentful players who had remained in Czechoslovakia resisted, but they were persuaded by their federation to reconsider after a humiliating 1-0 loss at home in March to Egypt. The team since has played better in losses to England, 4-2, and West Germany, 1-0.

“We’ve talked about everything and really laid the cards on the table,” said captain Ivan Hasek. “They have accepted our arguments and apologized to us. If they are in good enough shape, we have nothing against them playing in Italy.”

Czechoslovakia has been to the World Cup seven times, finishing second in 1934 and 1962, but its last appearance was in 1982. Its players have the same experience at this level as the U.S. players: none.

Gansler has repeatedly made that point to his team, the youngest of the 24 teams with an average age of 24.2.

“It’s just a game we’re playing against Czechoslovakia,” Gansler said. “Will there be nerves, trepidation and anxiety? Perhaps. But the butterflies will be floating around in the other locker room as well.”

COMUNALE STADIUM. FLORENCE The United States will kick off action today in florence against Czechoslovakia. The Americans appeared in the first World cup matches in 1930 but have not returned since a first-round elimination in 1950. This year, they face first-round challenges from Austria, Czechoslovakia and favored finalist Italy.

Enlarging the stadium without changing the stadium structure was achieved by recessing the field below ground level.

The Marathon Tower and Spiral staircase are architectural signatures of Pier Luigi Nerv’s work.

THE CITY Florence flourished as the center of the Italian Renaissance between the 13th and 16th centuries. Artists Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael made their debuts in Florence. Population: 430,000.

THE STADIUM Comunale (city) Stadium has been enlarged and renovated with the goal of preserving the original structure and restoring a famous work of modern architecture.

* Build 1932 * Capacity: 45,000. * Features: Electronic scoreboard; warmup gym.

FIRST-ROUND MATCHES AT FLORENCE U.S. vs Czechoslovakia: Today, 8 a.m. Austria vx. Czechoslovakia: Friday, 8 a.m. U.S. vs Austria: June 19, noon All times PDT