U.S. Seeks Respect, Not Cash, at Wembley : Soccer: Americans, insulted by bonus offer, are honored to be there. English want revenge.

Striding briskly up the dark ramp, which smelled faintly of the greyhounds that race here on other days, the coach of the U.S. national soccer team unclasped his hands from behind his back and raised them to the cloudy heavens as he entered the stadium.

“This is like a dream,” he said, twirling, taking in the 360-degree view of the stadium’s soccer tradition.

In his reverence, Bora Milutinovic failed only to genuflect. After all, this was Wembley Stadium, soccer’s cathedral, and the occasion was his team’s arrival Tuesday evening to practice in preparation for an international match against England tonight.

The U.S. players have been steeped in the lore of Wembley since they arrived last week, getting a crash course on the stadium’s hallowed status. They got their first look at the north London stadium Tuesday. As they jogged on the putting-green field, many stole glances at the stadium’s partially covered stands and a dark sky.

The U.S. team’s presence here signals its kinship with the international soccer family has grown less remote, a hoped-for windfall from its recent role as World Cup host and the team’s advance beyond the tournament’s first round. England is itself the host of the sport’s next major event, the European Championships in 1996, and like the United States with the World Cup, the hosts don’t have to go through qualifying.

Casting about for competition, the English invited the American team, as much for its value as a curiosity as for its respect as a soccer entity. Some U.S. players are already familiar to the English, six of them playing for professional teams in this country. Two--midfielder John Harkes and goalkeeper Juergen Sommer--have even played at Wembley.

Five other American players play elsewhere in Europe and are gaining reputations.

Respect appears to be the operative word surrounding this game. The U.S. players have told reporters how honored they are to be playing England--Thomas Dooley said a victory over England would mean more than beating Italy or Brazil. And most of the players have all but drooled at the sight of Wembley, much less the thought of playing in it.

Harkes, who is not expected to play because of a muscle strain in his left calf, said he would do almost anything to be able to play again in Wembley, this time in a U.S. uniform.

Somehow, none of this has translated into reciprocal respect.

It remains a mystery just what it might take for the U.S. team, or even any American players, to gain the respect of English soccer pundits. The U.S. presence in the World Cup is explained as the gift given to the tournament host. England’s absence from the World Cup is blamed on former national coach Graham Taylor, reviled as incompetent.

Then there is the matter of the $25,000. It is the amount of the “bonus” offered by the English Football Assn. should the U.S. win. The FA explained the unorthodox bonus was meant to ensure that the Americans field a competitive team.

“This was the FA’s idea to put a bit of an edge to the game,” FA spokesman David Bloomfield said.

From the reaction of the U.S. players, the offer of $25,000 might as well have been delivered with a slap in the face. Their incentive to win the game is now to stuff the money down the throats of their critics, rather than financial gain.

Regardless of the motive, the bonus has had its intended effect.

“It’s an insult,” said Harkes, who plays for Derby County in the English First Division.

Harkes said the attitude is born of English arrogance about the game they brought to the world. “They don’t think anyone else can play the game. They haven’t forgotten we beat them. Never (will). This is the killer revenge game.”

The United States has beaten England. It is the most under-reported statistic in English newspapers this week. It happened during the U.S. Cup in June 1993, at Foxboro Stadium outside Boston. No one thought the United States had a chance. Before the game, the confident English media called the prospect that England might lose, “the end of the world.”

The U.S. team won, 2-0, which shocked the world but failed to end it. Both players who scored in that game--Dooley and Alexi Lalas--are here with this team, a team long on resolve but still short on international experience.

Today’s game, which the United States again is not expected to win, is not for the money, it’s for respect.