UPPER 90 U.S. ISN'T UP TO PACE QUITE YET.

Byline: SCOTT FRENCH

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany - The consensus in the mixed zone following the Czech Republic's 3-0 romp over the United States in Monday's World Cup Group E opener is that DeMarcus Beasley was the worst American on the field. A year ago, there was no U.S. player better.

It is alarming to see how far his game has slipped in the past

six months. Injuries have had an influence, and his relegation to the bench at PSV Eindhoven didn't help, but the Beasley who gave such a revelatory performance four years ago in South Korea -- unhinging defenses with mazy runs, constantly creating scoring opportunities -- was nowhere to be found at Arena AufSchalke.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena noticed, and he was brutal in his description of the 24-year-old winger's play. ``We got nothing out of Beasley tonight,'' the coach said. Beasley's was just the worst of many poor performances for the Americans, whose 2006 World Cup start came in direct contrast to their magnificent 2002 beginning. It can be hoped it was nothing more than a bad outing against a great team on top of its game, but that doesn't sound entirely reasonable.

More certainly can be expected of Landon Donovan, who at least looked like he belonged on the field even if his was a subdued performance. And Brian McBride is capable of far more than he showed against the Czechs. Kasey Keller couldn't be blamed for any of the goals, but Arena dumped on him, too.

``It doesn't matter if it's fair or not,'' Keller said when asked if Arena's assessment -- that only midfielder Claudio Reyna, winger Bobby Convey and defender Oguchi Onyewu, among the starters, gave solid performances -- was valid. ``It's what the manager said, and we have to live with it.''

One can question Arena's candor, but he knows his players and their mentalities and how they're likely to answer such a challenge. If the Americans are going to push through to the second round -- and only one team, Turkey in 2002, has reached the round of 16 after losing its opener since the field was expanded to 32 teams in 1998 -- they'll have to get a result, a tie or, better, a win, against mighty Italy on Saturday in Kaiserslautern.

The U.S. team is improving rapidly, and it is capable of giving any team, the Czechs included, a real battle. But Monday's loss demonstrated the Americans have far to go before they're on par with the world's finest teams.

FIFA's rankings are ridiculous, but they're dead-on with the Czechs, who are No. 2 to Brazil. Theirs is an exceptional team, and if their players aren't household names -- Pavel Nedved, Tomas Rosicky and Petr Cech aside -- the players' clubs are. The Czech Republic starting lineup, by club: Chelsea, Ajax Amsterdam, Paris St. Germain, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Ajax Amsterdam, Ceske Budejovic, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, AS Monaco, Borussia Dortmund.

Karel Poborsky, near the end of his career, returned home to play for Ceske Budejovic; he once starred for Manchester United.

After the game, Arena was asked if this loss reminded him of 1990, when the Americans -- fielding a largely amateur team -- opened their first World Cup in 40 years with a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia. The coach bristled, said this U.S. team is nothing like the '90 team, and he's right. But the question was fair. The magnitude of the defeat, given how far the American game has advanced, might be greater.

One U.S. fan waiting for a train at Gelsenkirchen's Hauptbahnhof called the loss ``embarrassing'' and demanded that Arena be fired. That might be a tad severe, but it speaks volumes about how far the U.S game has come. Those who care about American soccer need to be patient.

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Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley was one of a number of players singled out by U.S. coach Bruce Arena for their poor performances Monday.

Joe Klamar/Getty Images