By Mike Woitalla, Executive Editor, Soccer America Magazine
Several World Cup-bound Americans play or have played club ball in the Germany. We checked in with a quartet of them for an update on the World Cup host country.
Claudio Reyna (Bundesliga 1994-99)
Hamburg, the right choice
''I started my career in Germany and to come back and play in a World Cup is going to be amazing,'' says U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, 32, who joined Bayer Leverkusen at age 21. ''They probably have the best stadiums in the world. The infrastructure and the way the tournament will be run is going to be amazing.''
Reyna left the Bundesliga in 1999, after he had, with VfL Wolfsburg, become the first U.S. product to captain a German First Division club. Now with the English Premier league's Manchester City, Reyna believes Coach Bruce Arena made the right choice picking Hamburg as
the team's base.
Reyna and his wife, Danielle, often visited the Northern German port city that proclaims itself ''The Gateway to the World,'' whose 4,000 restaurants include 2,400 that offer foreign cuisine. Hamburg, where the Beatles made their first live appearance, is Germany's second-largest city and its greenest metropolis. It has more bridges than Venice, and one travel guide calls it a cultural melting pot.
''There's a lot to do there,'' Reyna says. ''It will be a really nice place for the team and the families.''
At the 1998 World Cup in France, under Coach Steve Sampson, the U.S. team was sequestered at a far-off chateau.
''When watched games on TV,'' Reyna says, ''players would say, 'It'd be nice to be at that World Cup.' We were isolated from seeing fans and feeling the buzz of the World Cup.''
Arena takes a different approach. He placed his team in downtown Seoul in 2002. He gives players freedom and enables them to have constant contact with their families. ''That's how it is all year long when we're with our clubs,'' Reyna says. ''Keeping things normal when there's all the extra pressure of the World Cup I think is a good idea. It keeps us fresh.
''I have friends on three or four different national teams. They wish it was like that for them. They love playing for their country, but they don't enjoy national team duty because they don't do anything other that sit around in a hotel in the middle of nowhere and train.''
Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96)
Added pressure
The 26-year-old Southern Californian joined Hannover 96 in January 1999 out of the University of Portland. In 2001, the northern German city was named a World Cup host city, and the club took on most of the $70 million stadium renovation costs. The city and state chipped in a third.
Hannover 96 was gambling on winning promotion to and remaining in the First Division, where revenues would justify the investment. In 2002, with Steve Cherundolo a key contributor, the Reds reached the top tier.
''There was a lot of pressure on us to stay up,'' Cherundolo says. ''That's always the goal anyway. If Hannover gets relegated, you're playing Second Division, all of our salaries go down, the club losses a lot of money. But the club's investment in the stadium, because it wanted ownership, put a lot more stress on the team. The president at that time let us know about it.''
In the first year up, Cherundolo started 33 of 34 games and Hannover survived with an 11th-place finish. The Reds are now in their fourth season at the top tier, and this season Cherundolo, Hannover's right back and vice-captain, became the first American player hit the 100-game mark in German First Division play.
Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus)
Making friends
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the World Cup provides a chance for Germany to show the world it is ''a hospitable, joyful and modern nation bursting with ideas.'' Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann says, ''We want to show the world the new face of Germany – friendly, open and relaxed.''
The tournament's slogan? ''A time to make friends.''
The hosts are obviously aware of the German stereotype: serious and aloof; obsessed with order and efficiency.
''I definitely had my preconceived notions about Germany,'' says New Jersey product Gregg Berhalter, 32, now in his fourth year with Energie Cottbus in the former East Germany. ''I thought they were uptight, stuff like that. But after being here, I learned that they like order. And that's very important. Their whole society is based upon that. Driving, crossing the road, not working on Sunday. A lot of things, that's how it is. Once you get to know that, and once you accept that, it's not that big of a deal. They don't seem that uptight anymore, because that's just how they are.
''They're not really a laidback society, but that's OK also, because things work really efficiently. If a worker says he's going to be at your house at 11:00, he'll be there exactly at 11:00. He's not coming at 11:30 or 12:00. You can count on those types of things, and it's great.''
Berhalter, who captains Energie Cottbus, agrees that Germans, in general, don't exhibit the superficial friendliness common in the United States.
''Americans are more welcoming,'' he says. ''In Germany, you have to make relationships. They're not going to come. Within a team, for example, the environment is very professional. The players will come together, but that's not their nature. But if you make the effort, things will happen and you'll make friends. I've really enjoyed my time here. I really have.''
Kasey Keller (Borussia M'gladbach)
An honorary German
German fans are stingy when it comes to handing out nicknames. When a player does get a Spitzname that's not just a variation of his name, it means he's really won the fans over.
Kasey Keller arrived in January 2005 at relegation-threatened Borussia Moenchengladbach from Tottenham to a lukewarm reception. Germans take pride in their tradition of producing top keepers, but a Dutch coach had brought in an American keeper from England. A 35-year-old keeper at that.
But Keller's play helped Borussia avoid relegation. His composure is hailed as having a stabilizing effect on the team. He clowned around with the team mascot, ''Junter the Foal'' and bonded with fans.
He became Kasey ''The Wall'' Keller.
''A German friend of mine back home explained to me that Germans are generally stand-offish and that it takes a while to get accepted,'' Keller says. ''There's a lot of little tests, but I've become an honorary German. Now I have a great relationship with everyone at the club and the fans.''
Moenchengladbach isn't a World Cup venue, but Borussia plays in the new 53,000-seat NordPark, where the team averages 46,000.
''Our Gladbach fans put most places to shame, no question,'' Keller says. ''The Arsenal fans, when they won the title at [Tottenham's] White Hart Lane, didn't celebrate half us much as Gladbach fans when we win a regular league game.''
(This article originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of Soccer America Magazine.)