April 2002 - Nr. 4
German Team Wins Soccer World Cup Test Match Against U.S.
TWIG - The German national soccer team defeated the U.S. national team 4 to 2 in a pre-World Cup test game on Thursday night (March 27) in the eastern German port town of Rostock. The victory came after two straight losses to the U.S. team in shutouts in 1999, and brings the record to 4-2-0 in six matchups between the two countries. The International Friendly, played before a sell-out crowd of nearly 29,000 fans, was the first time the U.S. team had played on German soil since reunification.
U.S. forward Clint Mathis of the New Jersey MetroStars scored both of his team’s goals, with the first point scored in the 17th minute of the game. But Germany evened things up just before half-time when captain Chris Ziege scored on a free kick past U.S. goalie Kasey Keller. After the half, Germany scored three more goals over eight minutes with Oliver Neuville (Bayer-Leverkusen), Oliver Bierhoff (AS Monaco/65) and Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen/68) all connecting. Mathis’ second goal came in the 71st minute to cut the German lead to two.
"I am satisfied with the effort," legendary German national coach Rudi Voeller said after the game. "The players gave their all from the first to the last minute, even if the team was a bit pieced together. The guys who have been there for the last two years have tremendous character."
Recent cancellations by 15 potential World Cup team members had left Voeller with the tough task of filling out his roster, and he had to call on a number of untested players. The roster for the final round of the World Cup, set for May 31 through June 30 in Japan and South Korea, is not yet set. Germany’s next match is against Argentina on April 17 in Stuttgart.
US. coach Bruce Arena said that the key to the game was the physical strength of the German team. "We could have defended better and at times shown more commitment. They won a lot of the battles, and in the end they were the better team." The 20-man U.S. roster included Bundesliga players Cory Gibbs (FC St. Pauli), Frankie Hejduk (Bayer-Leverkusen), and Tony Sanneh (FC Nuernberg), as well as second-leaguer Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96).
