BARCELONA ’92 OLYMPICS: DAY 3 : U.S. Gets Victory, Thanks From Kuwait : Soccer: Kuwaitis cheer opponents, showing gratitude for the role Americans played during the Gulf War.

This city’s historic Romareda Stadium, host to Monday night’s soccer match between the United States and Kuwait, showed few indications of Olympic hoopla. Instead, there were all the trappings of a patriotic pep rally.

The signs around the stadium read: “Kuwait Thanks USA.” Kuwaiti fans wore their country’s colors--green, red, white and black--but around their shoulders they draped red, white and blue American flags. They chanted and cheered for the U.S. soccer team, something even Americans seldom do.

After the game, the traditional sporting handshake likewise escalated into a love fest. Kuwaiti players kissed, hugged and slapped the backs of the bewildered American players. With tears in their eyes, they praised the United States for helping liberate their country during the Gulf War.

It was an unlikely setting for a hard-fought soccer match.

In fact, Kuwait accomplished a small measure of payback by losing to the U.S. Olympic team, 3-1. Winning was essential to American hopes of advancing beyond the first round, something a U.S. Olympic soccer team has never done. Monday’s victory was only the third for Americans in Olympic competition.

The political overtones obscured an inconsistently played game by both teams. Kuwaiti fans, among the 3,000 spectators, distributed T-shirts and leaflets about Kuwaitis still being held in Iraq.

Of course, the sportsmanship displayed by the Kuwaiti players is an important component of the Olympic ideal. It’s just that competition so often gets in the way.

That the team was even here could be termed remarkable, given the ordeal of the last year. Kuwait’s Brazilian coach, Valmir Louruz, was arrested at the start of the war and detained for 20 days by the Iraqis. Upon his release, Louruz arranged to get himself and most of his soccer team out of the country. Since February, the team has not been back and has been moving from country to country in search of training facilities.

“The effects of the war on Kuwait were very negative,” Louruz said. “We don’t have a stadium to train in. We have been training in Denmark for the last month. In terms of this team, we must prepare for the future; we have nothing now.”

Louruz said that when the Kuwaiti players learned they would be facing the United States in the second game of the first round, they told him they were proud to be part of such a matchup.

“They told us after the game, ‘Thank you for saving my country,’ ” said Dario Brose, who scored the first American goal. “They invited us to come to their country. They just kept thanking us and saying, ‘Friend, friend.’ We saw all the signs. I felt really proud.”

U.S. Coach Lothar Osiander was less proud than thankful for having won, after last Friday’s 2-1 loss to Italy. Not only was the victory crucial, but the three goals--all by players who didn’t play in the first game--may become important should there be a tie in Group A and goal differential is used to break it.

The United States will play Poland Wednesday. The Polish team, seeded third in the group but now leading it, beat Italy, 3-0, Monday night in Barcelona.

Osiander noted that he made three good decisions before and during the game: He chose to start Steve Snow, after the tempestuous goal scorer apologized for critical statements. He put seldom-used Brose at midfield, and Brose responded with a goal off a free kick to tie the score in the 56th minute. When Borse got tired, Osiander took him out and replaced him with Manny Lagos, who scored the go-ahead goal on a spectacular, sliding, left-footed kick.

“I think I had Lady Luck on my side with those substitutions,” said Osiander, who was less enthusiastic about Snow’s performance, which he described as “mediocre.”

“He scored a goal and that’s what he’s supposed to do,” Osiander said.

Osiander didn’t start Snow in the first game, and because of injury substitutions, the team’s leading scorer didn’t play at all. Snow questioned Osiander’s tactics and said had he played, the U.S. would have won.

Osiander, who has criticized Snow for his selfishness and lack of teamwork, said the player would not see action again until he apologized.

There remains a noticeable coolness between the two, but the damage done by Snow’s caustic remarks after the Italy game was partially repaired by his apology to Osiander and the team.

“Coach is boss,” was the most relevant portion of Snow’s remarks.

The boss played Snow in his usual forward position, but it wasn’t until the second half that Snow got the ball in good position. That was a result of another Osiander substitution--Yari Allnutt for Cobi Jones.

“Yari always gets the ball to me,” Snow said. “He knows where I’m going to be. I didn’t get the ball much in the first half and I blew some chances. I don’t think I played a great game. If I had played a good game, I would have scored four goals.”