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US look forward to homecoming in "K-Town"

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 12:38 CDT

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."

Source: REUTERS

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