By Mike Woitalla
Executive Editor, Soccer America Magazine

A quartet of Americans have already been to at least two World Cups, experiencing the disappointment of 1998 and the success of 2002.

Claudio Reyna (1994, 1998, 2002)
BORA'S WORDS HELD TRUE

He was set to become a 20-year-old starter for the USA at the 1994 World Cup. In its dress rehearsal game two weeks before the tournament opener, Claudio Reyna played left midfielder as the Americans downed Mexico, 1-0, in front of 91,123 fans at Rose Bowl.

But Reyna felt a terrible pain in his hamstring on the eve of the opener.

The team's youngest player, Reyna never recovered to play in any of the USA's four games. Two people helped take the sting out of Reyna's disappointment.

While at the training camp in Mission Viejo, Calif., Reyna had met Danielle Egan, who was in Southern California with the U.S. women's national team. They fell in love and married three years later.

The other was U.S. coach Bora Milutinovic.

''He was great about it,'' Reyna says. ''He told me, 'Don't worry. You're young. Even if you don't play in this tournament, you will play in future World Cups.'''

Milutinovic was correct. In 1998, Reyna, at 24, played every minute of the USA's three games. In 2002, Reyna, at 28, captained the USA to the quarterfinals and became the first American named to the FIFA World Cup all-star team.

Now Reyna heads to his fourth World Cup.

''Four World Cups,'' Reyna says. ''It's a little hard to get my head around. Growing up in America, reaching one World Cup would have accomplished my goal. A fourth is something I'm really proud of. It's also a bit of luck, with the timing of my age.''

When Reyna was 5, his father, Miguel, took the family to his native Argentina six months after it hosted and won the 1978 World Cup.

''The excitement was still in the air,'' says Claudio, who was born and raised in New Jersey. ''My father took us to the stadiums in Buenos Aires. It was like he was showing us the great cathedrals of his homeland.''

In 1982, Reyna and his brother, Marcelo, watched the World Cup on Spanish-language television, then charged to the backyard and imitated the moves they saw from the likes of Zico and Socrates. In 1986, Reyna was enchanted by Diego Maradona. Reyna was 16 when the USA reached the 1990 World Cup.

''I'd always dreamed of playing in a World Cup,'' he says. ''When I saw Americans just a few years older than me playing in one, I seriously started believing it could be me one day.''

Brian McBride (1998, 2002)
TASTING THE ATMOSPHERE

Three minutes into his first World Cup game, Brian McBride hit the crossbar with a header. With three minutes left in that game, he scored on a header.

It was the second game of the 1998 World Cup. McBride was one of five new players in Coach Steve Sampson's starting lineup after the 2-0 loss to Germany.

Iran had already taken a 2-0 lead when the Illinois product struck a consolation goal in the 2-1 loss that eliminated the Americans. McBride's goal would be the only one mustered by the USA in France, and he was one of the few Americans whose stock rose during the tournament.

''It's funny,'' McBride says. ''Being my first World Cup, it was great experience. It was my first taste of that kind of atmosphere. Brian Maisonneuve, my friend and Columbus teammate, was my roommate and we really enjoyed it. The whole experience outside of the results was amazing.''

Four years later, McBride had the best of both worlds. He roomed with Kasey Keller, enjoyed the company of his wife and young daughter, and his goals lead to victories.

McBride scored 36 minutes into the U.S. opener against Portugal with a spectacular diving header that decided the 3-2 win and paved the way to the second round, where McBride scored in a 2-0 win over Mexico.

''Playing in the World Cup is what every soccer player hopes to experience,'' he says. ''The excitement just grows and grows. I think now I really understand what it's going to be like.''

Kasey Keller (1990, 1998, 2002)
'IT FEELS SO RIGHT'

In 1990, Kasey Keller was heading into his junior year at Portland University when Coach Bob Gansler picked him as a backup to keeper Tony Meola at the World Cup in Italy.

''I was along for the ride,'' he says. ''It was a starting point. You can't just expect everything to go smoothly when you qualify for the first time in 40 years. We were basically staying at college dorm rooms eating at a cafeteria. The training field was crap and everyone was like, 'I thought this was supposed to be the World Cup, the best of the best.' My dorms in college were better. No one was to blame. No one knew any better.''

Coach Bora Milutinovic left Keller off the World Cup squad when the USA hosted in 1994 even though Keller was starting for English club Millwall.

''People are always asking me, 'Why isn't this your fifth World Cup,''' Keller says. ''I will never know what the real reason was.''

At France '98, he started the first two games as the USA was eliminated with losses to Germany and Iran.

''France in 1998 was a little better than Italy,'' he says, ''but a lot of mistakes were made. The combination of Italy and France is what helped us get it right in Korea.''

But in 2002, Keller suffered a pre-tournament injury and although he regained fitness, Brad Friedel kept the job through the quarterfinal run.

''Credit to the guys,'' he says. ''They scored goals. Portugal scored two goals but we won, 3-2. In France, we would have lost 2-0 or 2-1.''

Keller, 36, has spent 15 years playing in Europe, the last two seasons with German club Borussia Moenchengladbach, which means he's played in 11 of the 12 World Cup stadiums

''I am so ready for this World Cup,'' says Keller. ''Physically, I'm better prepared then ever, because I've learned from my other World Cups. And playing in Germany, there's the familiarity. This just feels so right.''

Eddie Pope (1998, 2002) '
I'D LOVE TO DO THAT'

Alexi Lalas was a stalwart in the U.S. central defense from the 1994 World Cup until the 1998 World Cup, when he stayed on the bench for the entire tournament and watched a 24-year-old Eddie Pope play his position.

''He was one of the young bucks who came in very quietly, and very quickly everyone realized he was a stud,'' says Lalas. ''He was wise beyond his years on and off the field and gained everyone's respect.''

Four years later, at the 2002 World Cup, Pope played all but 10 minutes of the USA's five games and was Soccer America's highest rated U.S. field player.

At age 16, Pope became engrossed in the 1990 World Cup.

''I videotaped the games and watched them over and over,'' he says. ''I thought, 'I'd love to do that.'''

Pope's debut for the national team came in a World Cup qualifier, after he had started three games in the 1996 Olympics with the U.S. U-23 team.

Pope says his parents weren't much familiar with the World Cup until they went to France.

''They were very happy for me when I got selected,'' Pope says. ''But when they went to France, they figured out pretty quickly how big a deal it was. They loved it.''

(This article originally appeared in the June 2006 issue of Soccer America Magazine.)