Last Sunday, the same sportswear company coordinated a glitzy send-off for the national team in Hartford, Connecticut that had as its running slogan: "Don't Tread on Me!" Sporting a new kit reminiscent of the one worn by the team of waiters, undertakers and postmen which humbled England in 1950, the United States have their marketing strategy down pat. Whether or not they can be as slick on the field is the big question.

"There's still this reluctance around the world to admit that we're any good at soccer, so from that perspective there's nothing I'd rather do than just shove it up everybody's ass in Germany, " said Landon Donovan (right), midfield playmaker, talisman, and holder of a neat chip on his shoulder since failing to make the grade at Bayer Leverkausen.

"But if we don't do well or don't meet other people's expectations, I couldn't care less what those people think. We'd have enough disappointment to deal with."

Despite boasting the longestserving manager in the tournament in Bruce Arena, one of the most experienced squads, and plenty of survivors from the team which reached the quarterfinals in 2002, the Americans flew to Germany last Thursday unsure exactly what to expect. Since last December's draw placed his side in an especially tough group with the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana, Arena has seen key players lose form and others battle untimely injuries. Like quite a few of his counterparts, he hasn't settled on a starting line-up and his biggest dilemma is the identity of a strike partner for Fulham's prolific Brian McBride.

Befitting a manager who has capped 85 players (46 of them in qualifiers) over the past four years, Arena does have plenty of options in every position. He also possesses a fondness for tactical innovation and casting people in unfamiliar roles. To this end, the sight of DaMarcus Beasley hugging the right flank in the final warm-up game against Latvia last Sunday has been read as a signal that the PSV Eindhoven left-winger could start there against the Czechs on 12 June. The thinking is that if he moves across, Beasley's defensive capabilities and pace will help curb the influence of Pavel Nedved.

That Arena can call on a Champions League regular is evidence of the constantly growing presence of Americans around the world. Aside from Beasley figuring on the team that won the Dutch Eredivisie, the US complements its Major League Soccer contingent with players drawn from the Bundesliga, the Premiership, the Coca-Cola Championship and Belgium.

Factor in that five of the starting line-up have more than 75 caps each and two of those . . . Kasey Keller now of Borussia Moenchengladbach and Manchester City captain Claudio Reyna . . . are at their fourth World Cup, and Arena's assertion that he has the best American squad ever at his disposal rings true.

To the experienced core, he has added some brilliant but not yet consistent youngsters. Chief among these is 22-year-old striker Eddie Johnson. Having begun his international career with eight goals in eight games (a figure slightly distorted by a hattrick against Panama), he had Premiership scouts tracking his MLS career, and even newspaper flyers about a $4m move to Manchester United. Ironically, since a training stint at Carrington under the eye of Alex Ferguson 18 months ago, Johnson has struggled so much with club and country there was talk he might not even make the squad. Ultimately just too fast and too strong a forward option to be left behind, he was still berated by the manager last week for an offside-ridden performance against Morocco in a warm-up.

If America's best hope of doing damage rests on Johnson gelling with the wilier Brian McBride, they may be difficult for the opposition to break down at the other end. Despite a lengthy spell as understudy to Brad Friedel, Keller is closing in on 100 caps in goal and in front of him Oguchi Onyewu could be one to make a name for himself.

Notwithstanding a worrying tendency towards the occasional rash lunge, the 6'4" Standard Liege centre-half is one of the best defenders in the Belgian league, and for America, a lot will depend on the effectiveness of his marking of Italy's Luca Toni and (pending injury) the Czech Republic's Jan Koller.

Onyewu, Donovan, Beasley and Reading's Bobby Convey all featured on a team that finished fourth at the 1999 Under-17 World Cup and, over the past decade, no country has invested more money and time in its youth set-up and national academies than the Americans. As a result, their players have no shortage of international experience coming up through the ranks. The problem is that because of their regional qualifying, the only major nation they meet in senior competitive games between World Cup finals is arch-rival Mexico. This lack of a reliable form guide points up the stupidity of FIFA ranking them fifth in the world and makes it difficult to predict exactly how they will perform.

"The World Cup's an unknown for everybody, whether you are Brazil or the US, " said Arena last weekend. "All you can do is lean on experience a little bit. We look forward to the challenge. All the talking's done. We'll have to step on the field 12 June and show what we're about."

Four years ago, Arena's team made fools of most pundits and reached the quarter-finals where they outplayed the Germans for long spells. They had a decent hand-ball claim against Torsten Frings turned down by Scottish referee Hugh Dallas, and in the end were thwarted by the magnificence of Oliver Kahn. Initial thoughts they might be better equipped to go further this time were seriously undermined by the draw. Even if they can wangle runners-up in Group E, they would most likely play Brazil in the second round.

Just the sort of team that might tread all over them.