U.S. WOULD LIKE CLEAR PATH TO FRANCE.

Byline: John Powers Boston Globe

OK, so it's not a ``must game.'' Not a mathematical must, anyway. The U.S. men's soccer team can still get to France for next year's World Cup even if it can't beat nemesis Costa Rica here this afternoon. But they'll have to sweat mightily to do it.

``Even though this game is extremely important, it is not a matter of life and death,'' says coach Steve Sampson, whose squad is sitting third in the regional standings with five qualifying matches left to play. ``I've asked the team to treat it as such, though.''

The last time the Americans had to qualify for the Cup, in 1989, they lollygagged through the autumn, ended up with scoreless draws against Guatemala and El Salvador, and had to beat Trinidad & Tobago to make it into the Cup field.

So the last thing Sampson wants is to have everything come down to the Nov. 16 home match with El Salvador. By winning today before a sellout crowd inside Civic Stadium, the U.S. team would take a huge step toward France.

Mexico (3-0-2) has virtually wrapped up one of the three berths, but only three points separate second-place Costa Rica from sixth-place Jamaica. A victory would move the Americans into second with a game in hand and two of their final four at home. A tie would keep them treading water. A loss would make for heightened blood pressures all around.

Though the U.S. has won only two of its 13 matches this year, one of them a meaningless friendly with Israel, it had the full varsity in uniform for only a handful. Except for captain John Harkes (sitting out a yellow-card suspension) and Eric Wynalda (injured groin), the Americans have everyone on hand and in shape for the first time in months, including key midfielder Tab Ramos, who'll be playing his first Cup qualifier since blowing out his left knee nine months ago at Trinidad.

``I think we're prepared mentally and physically,'' says Sampson.

Costa Rica is now desperate and in disarray. It has lost at Canada, was held to a scoreless draw at home by El Salvador despite playing a man up for most of the match, and is playing three of its final four matches on the road.

``Away from home, we have achieved nothing,'' said Juan Luis Hernandez, who was hired last month as Costa Rica's third coach of the year. So Hernandez, who has made a career out of turning around mediocre clubs in short order, has put the team through boot camp with 6 a.m. practices.

``I'm not going to ask them to sweat their shirts,'' he says. ``I'm going to demand they sweat blood.''

Hernandez also infuriated U.S. soccer officials recently when he made a joking reference about going to the White House to assassinate President Clinton. Not funny, retorted U.S. soccer executive director Hank Steinbrecher, who said that Hernandez's remarks ``surpass the limits of decency.'' Hernandez, who made a ``humble apology,'' said he was only trying to explain to Costa Rican journalists why he was holding secret practices.

Desperate times require desperate metaphors. Costa Rica needs at least a point today to avoid having to win at Jamaica or Mexico. The Americans aren't feeling that kind of squeeze - yet.

Still, the hosts are taking no chances. They've picked an intimate site as far away from a Costa Rican neighborhood as they could and are filling it with 20,000 white-clad, face-painted partisans who will be handed noisemakers when they walk in. They've brought in the first team, match-toughened (and hopefully not exhausted) from the MLS season. And they're playing for the W.