Two weeks ago, Brian Bliss felt like a rumpled uniform at the bottom of the lost-and-found bin. But in another 10 days, he could find himself on the U.S. World Cup team.
Bliss, a 5-8 defender, has come out of hibernation to challenge for a possible starting spot in the five-man line on defense.He made his first U.S. team appearance this year in a 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Saturday at Municipal Stadium. Bayern, the Bundesliga champions, won the German club title in April.
Bliss made a brief appearance in the 1990 World Cup and played one U.S. team game in November 1990 before signing with a German second-division team, Carl-Zeiss Jena.
Far away in eastern Germany, Bliss figured he was lost in soccer oblivion. He was pulled out of his isolation once in three years, for last December's U.S. team game against Germany. Although he played well, he had no contact with U.S. officials after that.
"I kind of wrote it off," Bliss said after playing a strong first half against Bayern and wilting a little in the second-half heat.
In early May he heard Eric Wynalda had been called back to the U.S. team. Bliss called Wynalda, who was playing in western Germany, and wished him luck. He figured that was it.
Then, on May 8, the phone rang. Coach Bora Milutinovic wanted to take a look at Bliss. Could he hop on a plane, play in games on May 21 and 25, then hurry back to his club team?
The U.S. coaches were delighted with his reply.
"Brian can help us in that position, as a (fullback) who can come up and be a midfielder," assistant coach Timo Liekoski said. "He's comfortable there and we need some security in that spot."
Bliss now faces the pressure of knowing his World Cup chances depend on one more game, Wednesday's date with Saudi Arabia.
Saturday's loss disappointed the U.S. team. If not for a concentration lapse early in the second half, it could have beaten the revered German club.
Frank Klopas scored twice for the Americans in 37 minutes, continuing his hot streak. Klopas has scored six goals in six matches and now poses a real threat to Ernie Stewart and Wynalda for the job of central striker. Stewart replaced Klopas after halftime.
Bayern's Mehmet Scholl also scored two goals, including the game-winner in the 60th minute. Christian Nerlinger scored the other goal for Bayern.
The U.S. team was unsure how to view the loss. They came close against an excellent team, but Bayern was missing four regulars. Those four have returned to their national teams for World Cup training: Lothar Mattheus and Thomas Helmer with Germany, Jorginho with Brazil and Adolfo "The Train" Valencia with Colombia.
And Bayern lost last week to Colombia, 2-0, in Bogota. The U.S. team will face Colombia on June 22 in its first World Cup game at the Rose Bowl.
Bayern Coach Klaus Augenthaler called Colombia a potential semifinalist in the World Cup. He was not impressed with the U.S. team Saturday.
"If the U.S. plays like that, it will be very difficult for them...," he said. "But this is only a practice and it is difficult to say how they will do when it is important."