NUREMBERG, Germany — They're not considered contenders to win the World Cup. Some bookmakers list their odds at 100-to-1.
But the U.S. players, who make their tournament debut today against the Czech Republic, know they can compete on soccer's grandest stage. Many of them proved the point with a quarterfinal finish in the 2002 World Cup. The U.S. team beat Mexico in the round of 16 that year and has beaten Mexico twice since.
The Americans take the field in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, today with self-esteem and worldwide respect they could only dream of before 2002.
"We play against the big boys and it's not, 'Oh, the Americans are definitely losing.' Now it's, 'Oh, it's going to be a good game,' " said midfielder Landon Donovan, one of 11 carryovers from the 2002 squad.
FIFA, soccer's governing body, ranks the Czech Republic second in the world and the United States No. 5, but those numbers, generated by a complicated points system, don't mean much. The sport's experts show even more contempt for the FIFA rankings than U.S. college football fans show for the Bowl Championship Series system.
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"I don't even know what it's about, to be honest with you," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said of the rankings. "I've never talked about it. It doesn't mean anything to us."
Arena said the 2002 World Cup tells more about his team. The United States finished second in its four-team group, beat Mexico in the round of 16 and got edged out by Germany 1-0 in the quarterfinals. That proved three things to the U.S. coach.
"We did a lot of things right, we've got good players and we can beat good teams," Arena said.
And this year?
"I think we've got a better team," midfielder Clint Dempsey said.
"We're better in every aspect," Donovan said. "We're better players. We're more professional. We're smarter. We're more experienced. We've got all the tools. Now it's on us to perform."
Being a better team wouldn't necessarily lead to better results. The 32 World Cup teams play in eight four-team groups, and the U.S. group is widely considered one of the two toughest this year. To make it to the round of 16, the Americans will have to finish first or second in a group that includes the Czechs, traditional power Italy and Ghana. U.S. players say they can handle the challenge.
"They're very good teams, but they're beatable and we know that," Donovan said.
The U.S. team tries to make up in experience and cohesiveness what it lacks in star power. Captain Claudio Reyna and goalie Kasey Keller are taking part in their fourth World Cup; only five other players in the entire tournament can match that. Arena, in his eighth full season coaching the U.S. team, is the longest-tenured coach in the field.
What they do today and in the weeks to come will establish America's soccer reputation for the next four years.
"National teams can do great things in qualifying and win friendly games and what have you, but the acid test of any national team is how you perform in a World Cup," Arena said. "That's the bottom line."
