MISTAKE IS COSTLY FOR U.S. GERMANY'S QUICK GOAL SPARKS ROUT GERMANY 4, US 1.

Byline: Scott French Staff Writer

DORTMUND, Germany - Far from full strength, and far from home, the U.S. national soccer team delivered an impressive first 45 minutes Wednesday, dictating much of the play in a World Cup warm-up and sending the home team into halftime with the jeers and whistles of more than 60,000 ringing in its ears.

It took just 21 seconds for it all to fall apart.

A mindless error to start the second half gave Germany a quick 1-0 lead, and the World Cup host added three more goals in a six-minute stretch in the late going to rout the Americans 4-1 at Westfalenstadion. It was one of the two worst losses for the U.S. since Bruce Arena took charge in 1998.

Miroslav Klose scored two goals and set up two more as the Germans, under intense pressure from media and fans, delighted a crowd announced as 64,500 in the country's biggest stadium.

``Certainly, the better team won today,'' said Arena, who had only two certain World Cup starters - German-based goalkeeper Kasey Keller and right back Steve Cherundolo - in his lineup. ``A huge mistake to start the second half, and we give the German team a goal. After 45 minutes of good concentration and smart football, we started the second half very poorly. Giving the game away in the opening kickoff of the second half is very foolish and very poor play on our part.''

The Americans, whose possession and energy bothered the Germans in the first half but led to few real chances, were finished as the second half began. They moved backwards with the kickoff, then Cherundolo committed a needless foul against Michael Ballack, and substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger - with his first touch - sent a free kick bouncing into the U.S. box.

American forward Brian Ching waved his leg at it, and Klose apparently got a touch on the ball, sending it past Keller and into the net.

From that point, the game was Germany's, and goals by Neuville (a stunning blast to the upper left in the 74th minute), Klose again (beating Keller one-on-one from a back-heeled give-and-go with Neuville in the 77th) and Ballack (a sharp header from Klose's cross in the 79th) turned a relatively tight game into a rout.

Cherundolo scored the Americans' goal in the 85th, a 60-yard longball that bounced over German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn - as he collided with Eddie Johnson at the top of the box - and rolled into the net.

``It was our own fault,'' Keller said. ``We put ourselves under a stupid amount of pressure to start the half, but it just got worse from there. I think this game proved to Bruce who can play at this level and who can't. And that's where it was a good exercise.

``It was a shame, because in the first half, we represented ourselves very well, and their crowd was on them. But you had to know they obviously were not going to be happy with that first-half performance. I don't know what some of our players thought, that they could just run around, do what they wanted to do, and these (German) players were just going to roll over and let you do that?''

Breakdowns in midfield and on the backline were costly, and World Cup veteran Gregg Berhalter, who plays in Germany, and MLS standout Jimmy Conrad did little to help their causes. Right wing Chris Klein, who came on in the 17th minute after Josh Wolff was kicked in the head and departed with a mild concussion, was abysmal. Rising England-based star Bobby Convey was solid in the first half and disappeared in the second.

``I don't think a lot of players played themselves onto our World Cup roster,'' Arena said. ``(But) there were a lot of positives. We played a game against a very good team and had a chance to evaluate players, which allows me to finalize a roster.''

Wolff's departure hindered the Americans' attack, but Germany couldn't do anything with its early opportunities, especially Klose, who passed into traffic when presented an open shot in the 11th minute, then fired wide from Ballack's feed two minutes later.

The U.S. might have tied the score if not for Kahn's diving save on a Johnson header in the 66th minute, but the Germans - who benefited from a halftime switch from three to two forwards, opening attacking space - made their dominance clear not long after.

What would have happened had the Americans had their biggest stars: Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, Oguchi Onyewu and so on?

``Maybe we still lose 4-1,'' Arena said when asked. ``That doesn't matter. Obviously, we'd be a little bit stronger with a number of other players, but the German team would be stronger with some of their other players. We can't worry about that.

``I hope to see the German team down the road, and perhaps we give them a better game.''

Scott French, [phone]

scott.french(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Players from Germany and the United States battle in front of the net during Wednesday's World Cup warmup game at Dortmund, Germany.

Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images