On paper, today's game between defending World Cup champion Germany and the U.S. national team would be a mismatch even if the Americans were playing at full strength. They aren't.
While Germany brought a full roster of stars to Stanford Stadium for the World Cup warmup, the United States will face the sport's reigning power without several key European-based players.Still, Germany is not taking the Americans lightly - and U.S. coach Bora Milutinovic insists he prefers to field a younger team against the world champions.
"For us, it's best to play with this team against Germany right now," Milutinovic said. "I need to see all our players and it's very important for us to play against someone as good as Germany."
The Germans are coming off a 2-1 loss to Argentina Wednesday in a rematch of the last two World Cup finals. It was Germany's first defeat in a year.
Coach Berti Vogts said he was in no mood to lose again, or even allow the Americans to get as close as their 4-3 loss to Germany at the U.S. Cup at Chicago in June that was hailed by U.S. team followers as a moral victory.
"We remember well the last match in Chicago," Vogts said. "Don't forget we had some gifts with us after leading 4-1, but we don't plan any gifts this time."
Milutinovic is more concerned about next summer's World Cup, which the United States is hosting for the first time. On Saturday, he wants his players to have fun.
"I'm sure they're going to make a big effort but you have to know who you're playing," he said.
Germany is the most consistent World Cup team of the past two decades, appearing in four of the last five finals, winning titles in 1974 and 1990.
World Cup veterans like defender Lothar Matthaus and forward Jurgen Klinsmann are expected to play, along with emerging talents like reserve forward Stefan Kuntz, whose 14 goals topped the German league this season. Seven starters on the 1990 championship team made the trip.
The only major German absence is Karlheinz Riedle, who was injured last month in a game against Brazil. Riedle scored twice in Germany's June victory over the U.S. team.
That doesn't scare midfielder Chad Deering, a U.S. team rookie who has played in Germany.
"We're not going to be embarrassed," he said. "Sure, it's the German team now, but on the field it's 11 against 11."
Among the U.S. regulars suiting up before an expected 45,000 fans will be midfielder Thomas Dooley, who scored twice against Germany in Chicago, and forward Ernie Stewart, who got the team's other goal.
Dooley starred for FC Kaiserslautern in his native Germany before becoming a U.S. citizen thanks to a serviceman father who abandoned the family when Dooley was a child. He joined the U.S. team full-time in September.
A pleasant surprise for the U.S. team is the availability of sweeper Marcelo Balboa, who continues his remarkable comeback. Balboa is suiting up for the second time since badly injuring his right knee in April.