World Cup: U.S. faces familiar rival in Germany

RECIFE, Brazil – When Jermaine Jones stands for the national anthems of his countries Thursday, he will soak in the moment.

Jones, like four U.S. teammates and his coach, will be familiar with both "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the "Deutschlandlied" before the United States' World Cup game against Germany. After playing three games in 2008 for the nation in which he grew up, Jones switched allegiance to the U.S. two years later.

"When I hear the anthem from the United States, I will close my eyes and let everything go through," the tenacious midfielder said.

And then comes the big game.

Four years of work by the U.S. come down to 90 or so minutes in the afternoon heat and possibly rain at Arena Pernambuco on the outskirts of a sprawling beach city known as the Brazilian Venice. Having squandered the chance to clinch advancement earlier against Portugal by allowing a stoppage-time goal in a 2-2 draw, the Americans might need at least a tie against the three-time champions to reach the knockout stage of consecutive World Cups for the first time.

The story lines are gripping:

• U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann facing the nation he helped win the 1990 World Cup title and coached to the 2006 semifinals.

• Germany coach Joachim Loew managing against Klinsmann, his former boss.

• Five German-American players with U.S. servicemen fathers and German mothers going up against a German squad filled with familiar faces from the Bundesliga.

• Fear by some the U.S. and Germany might collude on a draw, which would advance both nations while eliminating Portugal and Ghana. Both sides insist that won't happen.

• Thousands of U.S. fans with red, white and blue gear making the trek to the Southern Hemisphere to cheer in person and millions back home tuning into games at record levels.

"The country is in a soccer fever, and they're glued to the TVs when we play," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said.

The Germans beat Portugal 4-0 and tied Ghana 2-2, leaving them with four points and a plus-four goal difference. The Americans, who defeated Ghana 2-1, have four points and a plus-one goal difference. Ghana and Portugal, with one point each, play simultaneously in Brasilia, knowing a tie in either game would eliminate both of them. U.S. Soccer Federation officials will have a system to relay the score of the other match to the bench.

"To be able to keep that level of interest for another four, five, six and hopefully more days would be great for the sport," USSF President Sunil Gulati said. "I think for the first time in our history — recent history, I'm not going to talk about 1950 or before — our players believe they're capable of beating anyone."

He rejects the notion the dual nationals are any less American than those who came up through the U.S. youth system.

When the U.S. and Germany met for the first time in the group stage of the 1998 Cup, Klinsmann scored the second goal in a 2-0 win. The teams played four years later in the quarterfinals, when Michael Ballack's 39th-minute goal gave the Germans a 1-0 win.

While the Germans have four off days between matches, the U.S. has three. And teams are 0-4 after games in the steamy Amazon rainforest capital of Manaus, where the Americans played Sunday.

"It's the biggest game of all of our lives," Beckerman said. "Any fatigue in our legs will be erased. We've got to give it everything we've got and more."

There is an outside chance the U.S. and Portugal could tie for second with four points and be even on all tiebreakers. If so, a drawing of lots would decide which team advances. The teams that move on will have second-round matchups with Belgium, Russia, South Korea or Algeria. Gulati hopes for more, to boost the growing U.S. fan base.

"It's pretty easy to get emotional about," he said, "wanting to see this day happen. It's not The Day. That day is still to come. And that day has got a trophy involved."

In Wednesday's games:

Argentina beat Nigeria 3-2 in their last World Cup group match Wednesday, with Argentina's Lionel Messi and Nigeria's Ahmed Musa scoring two goals each before Marcos Rojo kneed in the winner in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Argentina won Group F while Nigeria also advanced, becoming the first African team in the round of 16 in Brazil. Messi boosted his tournament total to four goals, cutting up Nigeria's defense with dazzling runs and clever passes in a game that featured a furious pace.

"Messi is from Jupiter, he is different," Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi said.

Tragedy struck in Nigeria before the match, as an explosion rocked a shopping mall in the capital, Abuja. At least 21 people were killed.

Switzerland 3, Honduras 0: At Manaus, Xherdan Shaqiri's hat trick put Switzerland into the second round of the World Cup. The Swiss take second place in Group E behind France and will face Lionel Messi and Argentina on Tuesday. Shaqiri scored his first goal in the sixth minute, dribbling into a crowd of defenders and curling a shot into the net off the underside of the crossbar. In the 31st, he collected a pass from Josip Drmic after a defensive error and easily beat Honduras goalkeeper Noel Valladares.

France 0, Ecuador 0: In Rio de Janeiro, France's vaunted attack missed a series of chances but the French still won Group E with seven points and next will play Nigeria. Ecuador's chances were hindered after Antonio Valencia was shown a straight red card in the 50th minute for digging his studs into the leg of French defender Lucas Digne. But Ecuador may feel upset that France center half Mamadou Sakho was not shown a red card in the eighth minute when he appeared to elbow Oswaldo Minda in the face during a France corner.

Bosnia-Herzegovina 3, Iran 1: At Salvador, Bosnia-Herzegovina registered its first World Cup win and ended Iran's hopes of advancing to the knockout stage. The Bosnians took a 2-0 lead with goals from Edin Dzeko in the 23rd and Miralem Pjanic in the 53rd.

Suarez: As the world was judging Uruguay's Luis Suarez for biting an Italian player, his teammates and coaches defended him. World Cup organizers scrambled Wednesday to decide on a punishment before Uruguay plays Colombia Saturday in the round of 16. Wilmar Valdez, Uruguay football federation president, said Uruguay officials will respond to FIFA's case with footage showing Suarez as a victim of Italian aggression. Uruguay also will cite Brazil star Neymar getting only a yellow card in a clash with a Croatia player, Valdez said. Suarez could be judged within the scale of typical red-card incidents: A three-match ban may then be appropriate, banishing him until the World Cup final should Uruguay reach it. The maximum penalty would be a ban of 24 international matches.