US look forward to homecoming in “K-Town”

By Erik Kirschbaum

HAMBURG (Reuters) – The U.S. will face Italy in the heart
of Germany on Saturday but the Americans are already looking
forward to a World Cup homecoming in Kaiserslautern close to a
major U.S. air base.

Renamed “K-Town” by the 55,000 U.S. soldiers and their
families stationed in Kaiserslautern who struggle to pronounce
its German name, the smallest World Cup venue is probably be
the most Americanized city in Europe.

“It’s definitely going to be good to hear other American
voices all around you,” said midfielder Bobby Convey at the
U.S. team’s base in the northern port city of Hamburg.

“I mean you go there and you can get American cereal and
American food,” said Convey, who plays in England for Reading.
“You feel like you’re in America. It’s amazing. You don’t
realize before there are that many (American) people there.”

The U.S. beat Poland 1-0 in Kaiserslautern in a friendly
played in a snowstorm in March.

It counts as a rare victory in Europe for coach Bruce
Arena’s team, who have lost eight other matches on European
soil in the last eight years against two wins.

But as most of the spectators at the “neutral venue” were
American soldiers and their families who are stationed in
“K-Town” because of the Ramstein air base, it felt more like a
stateside match.

The Americans will need all the help they can get against
Italy in their Group E match on Saturday after losing to the
Czech Republic 3-0 on Monday. They will play Ghana next week.

“It will be great to have the support of everyone there,”
said Convey. “It’ll be great to see all the American flags and
for everyone to be supportive of the team.”

Striker Eddie Johnson said the team had benefited from
their visit in March to the air base and that he had felt moved
by meetings there with soldiers who had been wounded in Iraq.

“They made us feel like heroes…they were happy to see
us,” Johnson said.

“We feel like we’re at home, having a bunch of Americans
there behind us, rooting for us. It’ll be a better environment
for us. The more American flags, the more pumped we’ll be.”