Soccer Is Best-Kept Secret in Barcelona : Olympics: Opening match between favored Italy and United States is expected to draw about 5,000 fans.

While some athletes fret about the prospects of playing before huge, unfriendly crowds, the U.S. soccer team wrestles with quite another problem before its opening game tonight: Should the players take it personally if, as expected, only 5,000 or so fans turn out to watch them play Italy in the 120,000-seat Nou Camp Stadium, the largest soccer arena in Spain?

The anticipated snub may have nothing to do with the Americans. Soccer in this town means FC Barcelona, the Spanish league team that is the current European league champion. Fans here have shown little interest in this, the first Olympic event, to be held 24 hours before the opening ceremony.

Considering their pairing against the tournament’s toughest opponent, the United States may be thankful if the turnout is small. Predictions for an American victory are nonexistent.

“I think without a doubt the Italians are the favorites to win the entire tournament,” U.S. Coach Lothar Osiander said. “Hopefully, they will be friendly with us, because we really want to be friendly with them. We remind them that Christopher Columbus discovered America, and now we want to discover Italian soccer on a very friendly basis. Hopefully they won’t crucify us.”

The United States need not win tonight to stay alive in the 16-team round-robin tournament. The Americans play two games in Zaragoza--against Kuwait on Monday and Poland on Wednesday--and a victory and a tie will probably advance the team to the next round.

If that happens, it will be an unfamiliar place. In Olympic history, U.S. soccer teams have won only two games and are 2-10-4. This team was impressive in its qualifying matches and compiled a record of 8-1-1. It has been placed in Group A, with the explosive Italian team, a strong team from Kuwait and the Polish team.

Osiander said he figures that three points will send the team to the next round of single-elimination games. Teams are awarded two points for a victory and one for a tie.

Osiander’s guarded optimism is based on the eligibility change begun for these Games. For the first time, only players who are 23 and under may participate. That rule excludes the more accomplished professional players, evens the level of the player pool and boosts the chance for American players to compete well.

They would probably do better if two key players were not injured. Midfielder Chris Henderson is sidelined because of a knee injury and defender Alexi Lalas broke a bone in his foot and will not play.

Steve Snow, a forward who has scored 19 goals in 18 games, will not start because Osiander has added an additional defender.

That strategy is directed against Italy’s potent offense. This is the same Italian team that won the 21-and-under world championship.

“They are a who’s who of Italian soccer in the younger age groups,” Osiander said.

On the team is Gianluigi Lentini, the highest-paid athlete in the world. The 23-year-old was recently transferred to AC Milan for a total of $50 million--his salary is $32 million over four years.

Aside from facing the Italians, the U.S. team has had other problems. On Thursday, the squad drove four hours from its training center in Zaragoza into central Barcelona to inspect the Nou Camp field. But the team was kept sitting in a bus outside the stadium for an hour, waiting for security guards to escort them in. The guards never arrived.

Since Olympic protocol prohibits athletes from entering venues unescorted, the team cooled its heels while Osiander frantically tried to gain access. He failed and the U.S. team retired to the Olympic village without having so much as trod on a blade of grass in the stadium where it will play its opening game.