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Semifinals at stake

U.S. and Germany fight to advance at Confed Cup

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Posted: Thursday July 29, 1999 07:32 PM

U.S. midfielder Ben Olsen (left) runs past Richie Williams during training in Guadalajara, Mexico. AP

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) -- The United States is out to prove that its soccer program can no longer be ignored. Germany is out to defend its honor.

For both, Friday's Confederations Cup game will be decisive: The winner will advance to the semifinals, with the Americans holding the advantage if the teams tie.

The Americans, who played well against Brazil on Wednesday night and barely lost 1-0, are looking increasingly strong. They are playing extremely tight defense, although they are still having trouble turning opportunities into goals.

They were disappointed with the loss to Brazil -- but it says a lot about how far the team has come that a game that close with what might be the best team in the world can be considered a disappointment at all.

Coach Bruce Arena "has made us reach for higher goals, and I think they're attainable now," midfielder Cobi Jones said Thursday.

"No matter what you still want to win," said midfielder John Harkes. "We went back to the hotel last night and sat around just ticked off about losing 1-0. It gets frustrating when you think about just how close we came."

Germany, which suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to the United States in Florida in February, would take another loss to the team as a national shaming. The German soccer team is traditionally considered one of the best in the world, and the Americans are generally considered to be a developing team.

The game Friday will test the endurance of both teams. Both played Wednesday night, and whichever advances will play its semifinal match on Sunday -- three games in five days.

Because of that, Arena said he plans to let some of his better players sit out the game against Germany, despite the importance of the game.

"Even with well-conditioned athletes, it's very difficult to play two games in three days," he said. "How many of these guys can you play for 90 minutes? It's a big issue."

But defender Gregg Berhalter said the U.S. team has a deeper bench than the Germans.

"We should be able to get a pretty fresh team on the field tomorrow," he said. "I think we definitely have a more fit team than them, and we have guys who are a lot hungrier than they do."

The only U.S. player who definitely won't play is defender Carlos Llamosa, who strained his left thigh in Wednesday's game and had to be subbed out. Arena said he wouldn't announce the lineup before the game.

Germany, which beat New Zealand 2-0 on Wednesday, said it would fight for the win on Friday, and recognized the growing strength of the Americans.

"Tomorrow we should win because our goal is to reach the semifinals. The United States is in very good shape, and I even think they shouldn't have lost the game against Brazil," said German assistant coach Ulrich Stielike.

Coach Erich Ribbeck said he would work with his players to bring up the level of play by Friday night.

"We should improve all aspects of our game, especially the speed of our forwards, because they're getting to the ball a second too late, and that makes us lose a lot of opportunities," he said.

 

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