U.S. COACH HAS BEEN EXCEPTIONAL.

Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE

Bruce Arena shows many faces to the soccer world.

To the fan, he appears placid, almost bored - apparently content in the realization that a soccer team, once unleashed, can no longer be controlled from the sidelines.

To the media, he seems contentious, even combative. He answers questions with questions. He divulges information grudgingly and sarcastically. It goes beyond sparring to baiting.

To his players, Arena often is avuncular and always scrupulously fair. He awards playing time to those who prove they deserve it.

Whatever visage Arena has for public consumption, the bottom line is this: He already is the most accomplished soccer coach in American history and is perhaps one or two victories from becoming the most accomplished American sports coach in the eyes of a soccer-myopic world.

Arena's performance in the 2002 World Cup has been little short of remarkable.

He arrived with a team expected to make a quick exit and has led it to the quarterfinals of the planet's most prestigious sports event by gaining two victories and a tie - vs. a team expected to contend for the championship, the undefeated co-host and America's hemispheric arch-rival.

He carefully constructed a cohesive and versatile roster, has manipulated it skillfully from one game to the next and has shown an uncanny knack for inserting the right player at the right spot at the right time.

Take, for instance, the 2-0 U.S. victory over Mexico on Monday, a result that puts the U.S. in the World Cup final eight for the first time in 72 years.

--He displayed a new formation. A coach almost fanatic in his devotion to the 4-4-2 came out with a surprise 3-5-2 scheme that packed the midfield with an extra player. He grasped that the outside midfielders' ability to drop deep could give the U.S. a five-man back line, bolstering its defense.

--He juggled his personnel. With Jeff Agoos out with an injury and Frankie Hejduk serving a one-game suspension, Arena confidently opted for defender Gregg Berhalter, who hadn't played a minute in this World Cup, and midfielder Eddie Lewis, a speedy left-side player who would stretch Mexico's defense.

--He instructed his team to engage in rope-a-dope tactics, absorbing the overzealous Mexicans' steady pressure and counting on U.S. counterattacks to carry the day.

He made the correct decisions in each case. Mexico held the ball for some 70 percent of the game, but it often stumbled in the thicket at midfield, and had so many men get forward that Brian McBride and Donovan were able to score counterattacking goals. Berhalter held his own and Lewis delivered a cross that set up the game-clinching strike. And Mexico threw itself into offense so hard and for so long, that by the 70th minute the Aztecas had nothing left.

Arena must seem a mystery man to most Americans, who follow soccer sporadically. A somewhat lumpy man with an expressionless face. But he has been a success at every level - in college at Virginia, in Major League Soccer at D.C. United and now with the national team.

He has left behind many admirers but few friends, and he always has won. Even now, on the international stage.

Even if the U.S. loses 3-0 to Germany in the quarterfinals Friday - and it could - Arena is a success story in this World Cup. From fomenting teamwork and unusual camaraderie in the roster, to assessing talent, to understanding the opposition.

In a sport where little is expected from U.S. teams and even less usually is achieved, he convinced his players they were world-class professionals. In part, he did it by unemotional decision-making that showed he curried no favorites.

Arena has not been perfect. He showed an attachment to the mistake-prone Agoos that nearly proved the undoing of the team. He perhaps has underused creative scorer Clint Mathis.

But most of this caustic New Yorker's calls have been unerringly accurate. From benching erratic defender David Regis to always finding a place on the field for the 20-year-old Donovan to realizing McBride was his go-to guy - even if he had been slumping.

Along the way, Arena went from an attacking lineup vs. Portugal to a fast, fit lineup vs. South Korea, to an intelligent, safety-first group vs. Mexico.

And he has taken advantage of his players' skills, greater, yes, than those available to his predecessors but still not level with the soccer powers.

Germany will test Arena's abilities to the limit. Rest assured that even now he is watching videotape and debriefing his scouts and assistants. He is studying his players for hints of fatigue or injury. He is coaxing this player and propping up that one.

It has been a virtuoso performance, and if it ends Friday, it should be remembered as the World Cup that Arena proved an American team can succeed with an American coach. A legacy that American coaches and players should appreciate for years to come.