US players plan to pressure Germany out

The United States say they plan to "pressure and hound" the Germans out of the World Cup.

As the underdogs in their quarter-final clash, nobody gives Bruce Arena's team a chance - apart from his players.

Eddie Lewis, who is hoping to hold his place after a fine display against Mexico, promises the Germans a night they will not enjoy.

He said: "We have far exceeded our expectations. The pressure is very heavily on Germany and that's to our advantage.

"We will continue to defend and counter-attack, that's what has got us here, and we'll have to pressure and hound them all over the field.

"Nobody likes being put under pressure in possession and that's what we have to do to give us any chance.

"Germany are all special players, Michael Ballack in midfield, Bernd Schneider on the right is outstanding, and they've got a fine goalkeeper in Oliver Kahn.

"We know the problems, but when you get to this stage, every player is world class. We must show we are too."

Defender Pablo Mastroeni added: "We know we can score, and then we will have to defend better than at anytime in the tournament.

"They are very physical and good in the air, but we believe we can win, we don't have the best players in the world but we do have a lot of heart."