Bad 15 minutes cost U.S. in Rostock, says Keller

The number of balls Kasey Keller gathered out of his goal on Wednesday night was something akin to a fisherman plucking a catch out of his net.

Granted the World Cup warm-up between the United States and Germany here on the Baltic coast did not end the way the visitors imagined it would, but the 4-2 home win could serve as an invaluable lesson in the long run for the Americans.

An early goal against the run of play gave the U.S. confidence a boost but, in reality, poor finishing by Germany and a string of outstanding stops by Keller were all that kept the match from being a complete rout.

"I was disappointed," Keller said. "I thought we had a pretty fresh start, but they (Germany) didn't panic and stuck to their game plan. We were disappointed in the way we came out the second half.

"We had a bad 15 minutes, but in all fairness, we changed it around a bit and had chances to get back into the game. They beat us on the day, and we have to hold our hands up and learn from it," said the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper.

A disciplined German team, while suspect at times in defence, were able to produce a favourable result despite the fact only a handful of first-team players were in the starting line-up.

Coach Rudi Voeller was missing 14 players, many through injury but some, like captain and first choice goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, were given the game off.

"This (game) was certainly a chance for some players to show what they can do for the national team," said Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann who linked up well with German team mates Jens Jeremies, Christian Ziege and Bernard Schneider.

"It was not a great performance since many of the team were not used to playing with each other. We didn't have the chemistry out there," said Hamann. "But, still, it was a good result and I think the people (of Rostock) had fun."

FORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE

Outside of Keller's saves and a pair of opportunistic goals from Clint Mathis, the Americans -- without midfielders Claudio Reyna and John O'Brien and forward Brian McBride -- gave a largely forgettable performance.

Landon Donovan, 20, on loan to the San Jose Earthquakes from Bayer Leverkusen where he is under contract until 2004, was shifted into Reyna's central midfield role and was unable to control the game for the U.S.

The American midfield proved to be porous throughout which meant the defence, often in varied stages of disorganisation, were put under undue pressure by a German side that finally found their target with frequency when Oliver Neuville, Oliver Bierhoff and Torsten Frings all scored in a seven-minute span early in the second half.

Mathis knocked in a rebound of his initial shot only 17 minutes into the contest to give the U.S. an early 1-0 lead but the Germans, pressing throughout, pulled level through a superb Ziege free kick only a minute before the interval.

"We gave up a few too many free kicks and corners," said U.S. midfielder Earnie Stewart. "It was a little unnecessary, which makes things more difficult. Overall, except for that 20-minute stretch (when Germany scored their four goals), I thought the boys held up pretty good.

"It was a pretty open game, which you don't normally have against Germany. We were lucky to score first against the run of play, and then all of a sudden things started to happen for us.

"We did have a chance to score a second goal and go up 2-0 and, of course, they had their chances. They were playing at home, and you know that going into games like this, that is what is going to happen. It's just a shame that we couldn't keep the 1-0 lead until halftime."

The Americans, expecting to field a team primarily composed of domestic players, face Mexico in another World Cup warm-up in Denver, Colorado, on April 3.