. . . . . . The Daily Soccer . . . . . .

It's hard to imagine the U.S. scheduling a better tune-up for the WC than the game against Germany tomorrow. While most U.S. soccer fans will set their DVRs and follow the action via internet updates at work, the game most certainly will prove to be a spectacle. Perhaps not so much for Bruce Arena's club, but the German team is in full-fledged crisis, if media reports are to be believed. Juergen Klinsmann faces a country that is demanding no less than a complete drubbing of Landon Donovan and company. No, I mean Claudio Reyna and company. No, I mean Brian McBride and company. Who's left on the U.S. roster? We'll find out. And whoever is there will find a German team in no mood to look at the who's on the field. Why? Angela Merkel had to intervene this week and declare the Juergen and the boys were on the right track. I suspect they will show well tomorrow but don't count on it! This isn't your father's German soccer team. (Bostrom)