USA (Group E)

Team founded: 1913 (affiliated 1913)

World Cup Participations: seven (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)

World Cup Honors: semi-finalist in 1930; quarter-finalist in 2002

Titles: Gold Cup (1991, 2002), Pan American champions (1991)




Coach: Bruce Arena (nationality: American)

The most successful US coach ever has led the team since after its first-round exit at the 1998 World Cup. The former goalkeeper and coach of the University of Virginia (where his teams won five national championships), DC United (his teams won two Major League Soccer Cups, a US Open Cup, a CONCACAF Cup, and an Interamerican Cup), and US Olympic team played only one game for the United States himself. He took the US to a stunning quarter-finals spot at Korea/Japan 2002, going down honorably to eventual Cup runner-up, Germany.



The Squad:

Team Captain: Claudio Reyna, Midfielder (Manchester City, England)

Reyna played for Coach Arena at the University of Virginia.





Goalkeepers:


Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, England)
Tim Howard (Manchester United, England)
Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany)



Defenders:

Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England)
Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany)
Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards, USA)
Cory Gibbs (Den Haag, Netherlands)
Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew, USA)
Eddie Lewis (Leeds, England)
Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium)
Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake, USA)

Midfielders:

DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Bobby Convey (Reading, England)
Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution, USA)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy, USA)
Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids, USA)
John O'Brien (Chivas, USA)
Ben Olsen (DC United, USA)
Claudio Reyna (Manchester City, England)

Forwards:

Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo, USA)
Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards, USA)
Brian McBride (Fulham, England)
Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards, USA)

Team Analysis

Ranking:

FIFA ranks the United States a very flattering 4th in the world. That’s based on the best seven international performances of the last eight years, with more weight given to the most recent years’ results. (The rankings can be deceptive, because teams often use the World Cup qualifiers, as well as other international games, including “friendlies,” to experiment with lineups.)

Qualifying Performances:

The United States won 17 of 18 qualifiers, and finished ahead of Mexico for the first time ever in the North, Central American, and Caribbean qualifying region. With only one loss in their opening six final round matches, the US needed a win at home against arch-rivals Mexico on September 3, 2005 to book their place — a capacity crowd in Columbus, Ohio roared on the Stars and Stripes in one of the most colorful atmospheres ever seen at a football game in the United States.

What it all means …

The US is at least as well prepared for this campaign as for the 2002 tournament. Arena is a renowned strategist, and the 2002 battles demonstrated how close the US can get to the top. With luck, the Stars and Stripes could go a long way. But – and here’s the rub –they could get their butts kicked by Italy and the Czech Republic in the group round, and be home by the last week of June. Stompin’ on Ghana in the final game would be little consolation, and not even a certainty. If the team does well, expect some lucrative European contract offers to the Stateside club players.

Despite its surprisingly commanding world ranking, even fans must wonder about the true prospects for the Stars & Stripes. Is your patriotism fueled by the fact that in soccer, among all the world’s major sports, the USA is a perennial battler, an oft-underdog, with much to prove, and much scorn and skepticism to overcome?

Add your commentary, trivia, prognostications, and incantations to this page, linked pages, and the comments section (see top right).

Group round:

12 June USA v Czech Republic (Gelsenkirchen) L 3-0
17 June Italy v USA (Kaiserslautern) T 1-1
22 June Ghana v USA (Nuremberg)


See also:

• The Players: Team USA
• USA Sound Off