[UNDER-20 WORLD CUP] Which U.S. team will show up Friday in Suez? The team that had a nightmare against Germany in its opening game? Or the team that ran all over Cameroon on Tuesday?

The stakes are as follows when the USA closes out group play at the Under-20 World Cup against South Korea, coached by former Los Angeles Galaxy star Hong Myung Bo, on Friday (TV: ESPN2, Galavision, 12:40 pm ET):

— A win or tie will put the Americans in the knockout phase for the seventh straight tournament;

— A loss to South Korea will almost certainly knock them out (although they won’t know until the end of group play on Saturday).

Group C Standings:
1. Germany 4 points;
2. USA 3 points (4-4 goal difference);
3. Cameroon 3 points (3-4);
4. South Korea 1 point.

The USA faced South Korea with Thomas Rongen in charge in their final group game in 2003 when the Americans won by the score of 2-0 — a score that sent both teams through to the round of 16. The Koreans were happy with a 2-0 loss, rarely venturing into the U.S. final third, but their only chance of advancing on Friday is with a win.

While South Korea is viewed as the weakest of the three Group C opponents, it should be remembered that it gave the USA its toughest game in group play two years in Canada.

The Americans were lucky to escape with a 1-1 tie against the Koreans, though they went on to beat Poland and Brazil to win their group in spectacular fashion.

Spectacular is how Rongen’s ’09 U-20s played on Tuesday in their 4-1 win over Cameroon. He is counting on another strong game from the midfield trio of Dilly Duka, Bryan Arguez and Jared Jeffrey.

Arguez and Duka scored against Cameroon, and all three players had assists.

U.S. ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS: 1-Sean Johnson (free agent), 18-Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), 13-Brian Perk (UCLA)
DEFENDERS: 2-Gale Agbossoumonde (Miami FC), , 4-Sheanon Williams (free agent), 6-Kyle Davies (FC Dallas), 12-Aaron Maund (Univ. of Notre Dame), 14-Gerson Mayen (Chivas USA), 16-Ike Opara (Wake Forest Univ.)
MIDFIELDERS: 17-Bryan Arguez (Hertha Berlin, GER), 5-Danny Cruz (Houston Dynamo), 11-Mikkel Diskerud (Staebak, NOR), 10-Dilly Duka (free agent), 19-Jorge Flores (Chivas USA), 8-Jared Jeffrey (Club Brugge, BEL), 15-Brian Ownby (Univ. of Virginia), 3-Dillon Powers (Univ. of Notre Dame), -21Michael Stephens (UCLA)
FORWARDS: 9-Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas), 20-Brek Shea (FC Dallas), 7-Tony Taylor (free agent).

SOUTH KOREA ROSTER:
GOALKEEPERS: 1-Lee Bum-Young, 12-Kim Seung-Gyu, 21-Kim Da-Sol.
DEFENDERS: 2-Oh Jae-Suk, 3-Kim Min-Woo, 4-Lim Jong-Eun, 5-Kim Young-Gwon, 6-Hong Jeong-Ho, 13-Jeong Dong-Ho, 16-Jang Suk-Won, 17-Yun Suk-Young.
MIDFIELDERS: 7-Koo Ja-Cheol, 8-Seo Yong-Duk, 14-Moon Ki-Han, 15-Choi Sung-Guen.
FORWARDS: 9-Kim Dong-Sub, 10-Cho Young-Cheol, 11-Seo Jung-Jin, 18-Lee Seung-Yeoul, 19-Kim Bo-Kyung, 20-Park Hee-Seong.