GROUP F
GERMANY
* World Cup Record: Played 73, won 42, lost 15, tied 16, goals for 154, goals against 97.
* Best Finish: Champion in 1954, 1974, 1990.
* 1994 Showing: Eliminated by Bulgaria in the quarterfinals.
* Coach: Berti Vogts. Nicknamed “The Terrier” from his playing days. Trying to emulate former teammate Franz Beckenbauer and become a World Cup winner as a player and a coach.
* Players to Watch: Jurgen Kohler, Andry Moeller, Oliver Bierhoff, Thomas Hassler, Jurgen Klinsmann, Ulf Kirsten.
* In Brief: European champion Germany is the oldest team in the World Cup. The experience will get it through the early rounds, but wear and tear could begin to tell later on. Losing in the quarterfinals in ’94 will be added incentive, as will the loss to Brazil in February.
* Quick Quote: “Our aim is to make sure of first place in our group.”--Berti Vogts.
* Forecast: Has the strength and unity to reach the semifinals.
IRAN
* World Cup Record: Played three, won none, lost two, tied one, goals for 2, goals against 8.
* Best Finish: First round, 1978.
* 1994 Showing: Did not qualify.
* Coach: Jalal Talebi. Don’t blame him if it all falls apart. The poor guy will have had less than a month in charge before the opener against Yugoslavia.
* Players to Watch: Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, Karim Bagheri, Khodadad Azizi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Daei.
* In Brief: Iran’s only previous World Cup was in 1978, when it lost to Peru and the Netherlands but tied Scotland. The only hope 20 years later lies in the high-scoring trio that plays in Germany’s Bundesliga--Bagheri, Daei and Azizi. Iran’s defense is poor, however, and its warmup results have not been encouraging. Changing coaches at the last minute didn’t help.
* Quick Quote: “We will surprise skeptics and will do very well, even against the Germans.”--Ali Daei.
* Forecast: Three games and back to sand soccer.
USA
* World Cup Record: Played 14, won four, lost nine, tied one, goals for 17, goals against 33.
* Best Finish: Semifinalist, 1930.
* 1994 Showing: Eliminated by Brazil in the second round.
* Coach: Steve Sampson. Was offered $50 million by Alan Rothenberg if he wins the World Cup this summer. A safe bet.
* Players to Watch: Kasey Keller, David Regis, Claudio Reyna, Preki, Cobi Jones, Eric Wynalda.
* In Brief: The U.S. again comes in as the underdog, but with much more respect than it had in 1990, or even 1994. The progress has been steady and results have shown it. Still, beating Germany and Yugoslavia is too much to hope for. A tie against either and a victory over Iran is the best that can be expected.
* Quick Quote: “Getting to the second round will be more difficult this time than in 1994.”--Steve Sampson
* Forecast: Three games and back to MLS they (almost all) go.
YUGOSLAVIA
* World Cup Record: Played 33, won 14, lost 12, tied seven, goals for 55, goals against 44.
* Best Finish: Fourth place, 1962.
* 1994 Showing: Banned from entering.
* Coach: Slobodan Santrac. Yugoslavia’s all-time leading goal-scorer at the club level, he is now trying to make his mark as a national coach.
* Players to Watch: Dejan Stankovic, Vladimir Jugovic, Dragan Stojkovic, Dejan Savicevic, Predrag Mijatovic.
* In Brief: Yugoslavia’s wealth of talent almost rivals that of Brazil, but it leaves Coach Slobodan Santrac with the problems of who to select and how to meld the different personalities and temperaments into a single focused unit. So far he has managed that well. But the World Cup brings added pressure.
* Quick Quote: “If we can’t beat Iran and the United States, then we certainly don’t deserve to go to the next stage.”--Predrag Mijatovic.
* Forecast: Yugoslavia has been to the semifinals before and could get there again.
