Germany to Serve as Measuring Stick for U.S.

Almost four years after walking off the pitch at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, the United States on Sunday finally got a look at its next field of dreams. Or perhaps nightmares.

Then, it was the United States versus Brazil in a second-round game that ended in a 1-0 defeat. Now, it is the U.S. versus Germany in the opening World Cup ’98 match for both teams.

And the American players will find the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes stadium tonight a lot different than it was on Sunday morning when they paid a quick visit. Still, they are undaunted by the task ahead of them.

“We realize it’s going to be difficult,” defender Mike Burns said, “but we don’t feel like there’s a lot of pressure on us. They’re the ones who are expected to win. And even if they might not say so publicly, the pressure’s on them.

“We’ve been the underdog and we’ve also been the favorite--in CONCACAF we were expected to qualify--and it’s much more difficult when you’re the favorite.

“So I don’t think we feel pressure right now. We’re just going to go out and have fun and try to play our best to win and let the pressure fall on them.”

The mental pressure might be on the Germans, but on the field it is the U.S. defense that is likely to be feeling it.

“The keys to this match for both teams obviously are going to be keeping it defensively tight,” goalkeeper Kasey Keller said. “Scotland proved [against Brazil] that you can concede an early goal and still come out and give yourself an opportunity to win the ballgame. We don’t want to give up a goal early, but if something does happen, it’s not a tragedy. We know that we can come back and can handle that.”

Many of the American players have experience playing in the German Bundesliga. Three of them, Chad Deering, David Regis and Claudio Reyna, play there now. But for German-born Thomas Dooley, tonight’s match is especially poignant.

He won league championships and cups and European titles while in Germany, and had things worked out differently years ago, he might easily have been on the other side tonight. That gives him even more motivation to do well.

“The closer it gets to the World Cup, the more I am thinking about [Germany as] our opponent not about [Germany as] the country that I grew up in,” he said. “It’s very exciting to play against Germany because I know everybody [on the German team]. It’s more exciting than to play against Spain or Italy.

“The German team has no weaknesses. They have very good players. But all the teams behind Germany are coming closer. What I mean by that is that the German team, I think, is not better than in ’94 right now. They are maybe the same as they were in ’94.

“But our team has developed tremendously in the last four years, and that’s why I think we came a little bit closer. We had great results against Argentina and against Brazil and Austria. That’s why we are looking forward to this game.”

But even if things go wrong and the United States loses, there is still another chance.

“I talked to the team just the other day [about the possibility of losing], and I said regardless of the result we have to put it behind us because the Iran match [on Sunday in Lyon] is equally as important,” Sampson said.

“We want to make sure going into the Yugoslavia match [on June 25 in Nantes] that the Yugoslavia match is a live match as far as staying in the tournament is concerned.

“So if we can get a point or three points against Germany, obviously that’s tremendously helpful as far as the Yugoslavia match is concerned. If we don’t get any points against Germany, then we have to get the three points against Iran. That’s the bottom line.”

Of course, after losing to Yugoslavia on Sunday, that’s Iran’s bottom line too.