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SEOUL (Reuters) -- The United States vowed not to let history go to their heads on Thursday as the team switched focus from a historic 3-2 defeat of Portugal to a difficult match against World Cup co-hosts South Korea. "Yesterday was for one day," said striker Brian McBride, the man-of-the-match against Portugal. "We got to enjoy it last night and now it's back to business." McBride's 36th minute goal helped the United States to their most famous triumph since they beat England 1-0 in the World Cup finals in 1950. Wednesday's euphoria was dampened by the news that captain Earnie Stewart could miss Monday's group D match against South Korea, 2-0 winners over Poland in their opening game. The midfielder went off with a groin injury in the 46th minute against Portugal and coach Bruce Arena said he was doubtful for the June 10 game in Taegu. "It's not likely, but we'll see," Arena said. "He's day-to-day." Veteran Cobi Jones, who replaced Stewart on Wednesday, would be the logical choice to stand in for him again, but Arena stressed he had not yet thought about his line-up. No United States team had scored three goals in a World Cup finals match since 1930 until Wednesday night, when Arena's young players defied the form book with a shock defeat of a side that had been touted as potential World Cup winners. "I don't think it's lessened the burden. The burden is not lessened until we put ourselves in a position to qualify for the second round," Arena said. "Certainly the three points in the first game is big, there's no question about that. But we'll continue to look for the same result in our second game as well." Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who sat out Wednesday's match, said: "What we need to do now is put that game behind us...It would really be disappointing if we start off the tournament great and then just kind of fizzle out." STADIUM STING Arena's side face formidable opponents in South Korea, who have the whole nation behind them and played excellent football in their 2-0 defeat of Poland. With both teams on three points, victory for either on Monday would virtually guarantee a berth in the next stage. McBride compared what awaits the team from South Korea's raucous supporters to playing in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium where 110,000 fans root for the home side. "You feel like you're swarming with bumble bees (but) although it's an incredible atmosphere, it's a soccer game and you have to make sure that you concentrate on playing soccer and tune everything else out," he said. The United States played South Korea twice in friendlies at the turn of the year, losing to them 1-0 in Sogwipo last December then beating them 2-1 in Pasadena, California in January. "We know our opponent pretty well...and additionally we have a number of players that have played in big games before at the club level as well as in World Cups before," Arena said. "So I think these players will be prepared to play in a game of this magnitude. The United States were the worst team at the 1998 World Cup in France, losing all three of their first round games. Arena said his much-improved side's performance on Wednesday showed that the world of soccer was shrinking. Twelve players in the 23-strong U.S. squad play at club level in Europe. "The traditionally big powers in the game are generally still the powers, but the gap has closed considerably. That's because players around the world have a lot more experience," he said. "Therefore when they step on the field in top-flight competition, they have a better background to fall back on and they have more reason to believe they can be successful." NO DUBYA Wednesday's victory did little to pique interest in soccer in the United States, where support for the game trails way behind baseball, American football, basketball and ice hockey. A combination of a dismal U.S. showing in France four years ago and the prospect of getting up at 5 a.m. on the East Coast and 2 a.m. on the West Coast to watch the Portugal game put off most sports fans. Arena and his squad said the win had earned them celebratory telephone calls and e-mails from back home, but primarily from family, friends and figures in the U.S. soccer world. "George W. is not on the plane to come over for the next game, at least not that we know about," Keller said in a reference to U.S. President Bush.
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