U.S., Poles happy for different reasons

Updated: Friday June 14, 2002 11:50 a.m. ET

From Sports Illustrated • Grant Wahl: New breed of U.S. player • Wahl Insider: Gray Goose • S.L. Price: No rest for the weary Features • 91st Minute: Hail the hosts • Snell: Serious spending • World Cup Hall of Fame: Top 100 • Scores | Schedules and Standings From Soccer America • Woitalla: Korea paves the way • Archive: Coverage from Korea From World Soccer • Glanville: England has history vs. Argentina • Archive: Subscribe to World Soccer From CNN.com • French coach asked to meeting • Special Coverage: CNN.com Europe From Time.com • World Cup Weblog • Full Coverage: Insight from Korea/Japan Multimedia • Photo Gallery: A fine first week

DAEJEON, South Korea (AP) -- Poland coach Jerzy Engel was happy with the way his team played Friday while United States coach Bruce Arena was happy to have survived the first round at the World Cup finals.

Poland, which disappointed many after losing its first two Group D matches, beat the U.S. 3-1. But because South Korea topped Portugal 1-0 in Incheon in the other group match, the Americans advanced to the round of 16 along with the co-host.

"Certainly, we are elated to qualify for the second round. However, I am disappointed with tonight's results," Arena said. "I must give credit to Poland, they played very well."

The Polish did play well Friday, scoring two goals in the first five minutes as Panathinaikos striker Emmanuel Olisadebe ended his dismal campaign with his first World Cup goal.

"If you play a team of that much quality and you get behind by two goals in the first five minutes, you will have a very difficult battle ahead of you, and we certainly faced that," Arena said. "At the same time, our guys never quit and played well at good parts of the game."

But the Polish still played better.

"We played for our country and I'm very proud," Engel said. "They (the Polish players) showed that they belong in the World Cup. We won and leave with good memories."

The United States moves on to play CONCACAF-rival Mexico on Monday in Jeonju.

"We know our next opponent quite well," Arena said. "Mexico is an outstanding team, and they were minutes short of being undefeated, almost winning three games.

"They will be a very difficult opponent for us on Monday. It's our job for the next 72 hours to get our team ready to play, mentally and physically," he said.

South Korea will play three-time champion Italy on Tuesday in Daejeon.

But Poland, the first European team to reach the World Cup through qualifying, will go home.

"For us, this game was very important because it was good for the psychology of the players. They understood that they can win, they can beat anything," Engel said.

"Many fantastic teams have gone home, I don't know what to say about France or about Portugal," he added. "I wish Korea the best because they organized the tournament. And the people here are amazing."

"I think that Korea has already won the championship even if they don't win," Engel said.