FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

Eric Wynalda, the United States all-time top scorer, is set to line up against Germany next week, less than two months after undergoing knee surgery. The San Jose striker, a veteran of the 1990 and 1994 World Cup finals, came through a tough closed-doors training session at Team USA’s headquarters in the heart of the Beaujolais wine country on Monday, to the obvious delight of coach Steve Sampson. “I was very pleased with Eric today,” Sampson said. “He was very sharp and you can see his explosiveness coming back. Between now and Monday he can only get better.” 

American hopes of matching their USA 94 performance by progressing beyond their tough first round group have been dampened by a goal drought that has seen them fail to score in two of their last three matches.

Sampson will not finalise his starting line-up for the match against Germany until the end of this week but he made it clear that Wynalda’s dribbling and ball-shielding skills-potentially much more valuable following FIFA’s crackdown on the tackle from behind-would be deployed at some stage against Germany.

“There is some decision-making as to whether you start him or bring him on, depending on what kind of an effort you want from the beginning of the match, but I would not have any hesitation starting him.” Wynalda, who has scored 32 times in 100 appearances for the US team, said he felt better than he had done for the last two years-the lay-off giving him the time to rest and allow niggling groin and back injuries to clear up.

“It’s been a very well kept secret but I am healthy,” he said. “For the last four or five days I’ve been able to go full out.” The US squad’s chances have also been boosted by the rapidly improving fitness of attacking midfielder Frankie Hejduk, seen as a potential US star in France if he can shake off a hamstring injury. The Tampa Bay player’s capacity to make strong runs out of a six-man midfield gives the US extra options going forward. Sampson played down fears that his side’s recent difficulties in hitting the net could destroy any chance of getting a result against the Germans or the Americans’ other group F opponents, Iran and Yugoslavia.

“I would be worried if were not creating the opportunities. But we are and I believe we will finish them in this World Cup,” he said. The US coach was realistic, however, about his team’s prospects for their opening game in Paris on Monday. “If Germany is firing on all cylinders then it is going to be very difficult to get a result,” he admitted.