SKIPPER Jurgen Klinsmann rebounded from a disappointing domestic season to show his class on the world stage, playing a part in Andreas Moeller's first-half opener and clinching victory with a typically clinical 65th-minute strike - his 47th international goal in 105 matches for his country. Steve Sampson's USA side were outplayed in the first half but rallied after the break to take the game to the Germans until the 33-year-old snuffed out any hopes of an American comeback with his killer goal. He took a fine Oliver Bierhoff right wing cross on his chest, totally deceiving Tom Dooley in the process, before sending the ball flashing past Leicester 'keeper Kasey Keller from 15 yards. Germany are the oldest side in the tournament - their squad average age is over 30 - but cannot be taken lightly. They dominated the first half with Moeller and Thomas Helmer taking a stranglehold in midfield. Jens Jeremies saw a long-range drive deflected wide, and Bierhoff climbed to power in a header from a corner that was blocked by Claudio Reyna. The goal, when it came, was no surprise. Joerg Heinrich and Thomas Hassler created an opening down the left that won a corner. When Hassler's flag kick powered into the box, Klinsmann rose to nod the ball back across the goal, beating Dooley in the air, and it was 30 year-old Moeller who was first to react by nodding the ball goalwards and in off the post to claim his 29th goal in his 81st international. The domination continued with Keller saving well from a 30-yard Moeller drive. Then Bierhoff almost made it 2-0 when he won a cross in the box, but as the ball dropped, he mis-hit his volley wide from just six yards. Keller was in action again when he punched away a Hassler cross as Klinsmann moved in to meet the ball and Bierhoff hooked another effort wide after latching onto a long ball. By contrast, Andreas Kopke's only save of the first half came when he pulled down a long-range drive from Chad Deering on the half-hour. But Sampson's men fought back strongly in the second half and they almost equalised after 52 minutes when David Regis crossed from the left and substitute Frankie Hejduk powered in a header that Kopke saved brilliantly at the foot of his right hand post. But for all the Americans' spirit, once Germany had taken the sting out of their efforts with Klinsmann's goal, the result was beyond doubt.

UNHAPPY VOGTS SWEATING ON HAESSLER X-RAY   BERTI VOGTS made it clear that he was not impressed with the manner of Germany's win and spent much of his post-match press conference fretting over Thomas Haessler's leg injury. The German coach admitted: I am hoping that it doesn't turn out to be his knee ligaments. Thomas will have it x-rayed in the morning but I am worried about it as it was the leg he recently had an operation on. Vogts added: "All in all I can't be happy with the way we played. We started very well and then we completely lost our way. I felt there was a degree of slackness and a lack of discipline in the second half. "We didn't hold our shape. Everyone had their task but perhaps nerves stopped them performing properly. We allowed the opposition to build up their tempo. We must find our rhythm better and tighten things up. The Americans have learned a lot. We saw that tonight. Indeed they did, and coach Steve Sampson was reasonably pleased by their first outing in their third consecutive finals. "The early goal meant we had to play conservatively in the first half to stop them scoring more, but we came out and imposed ourselves in the second half," he said. We held them and pressed them, then against the run of play Jurgen Klinsmann scored a great goal. You can't afford to give him that much time and room because nine times out of 10 he is going to put it away." Klinsmann himself was almost as critical as Vogts, saying: "We left too many holes in midfield and we couldn't close the holes. We didn't have enough self-belief and we made a lot of mistakes but the most important thing was the three points. 365 SAYS� Not a great beginning from Germany, but they did enough to suggest that they will have a say in the latter stages of these finals. Like Alan Shearer, Jurgen Klinsmann looked sharper than he had during the domestic campaign and scored a goal that belied his 33 years. The USA can take comfort, too on this kind of form they could give Yugoslavia a real run for second place.

TALE OF THE TURF		HOW THEY RATED
Team Name Germany USA Goals 2 0 Shots On Target 2 3 Shots Off Target 7 6 Blocked Shots 2 1 Corners 5 6 Fouls Conceded 19 15 Offsides 1 3 Red Cards 0 0 Yellow Cards 3 2		Germany: Kopke (7), Kohler (7), Reuter (7) (Ziege (6) 69), Thon (6), Woerns (7), Haessler (6) (Hamann (6) 50), Moeller (7) (Babbel (6) 90), Heinrich (7), Jeremies (7), Klinsmann (8), Bierhoff (7). Subs Not Used: Kahn, Lehmann, Matthaus, Helmer, Freund, Tarnat, Kirsten, Marschall. Booked: Jeremies, Hamann, Heinrich. Goals: Moeller 9, Klinsmann 65. USA: Keller (7), Dooley (7), Pope (7), Regis (6), Burns (6) (Hejduk (7) 45), Reyna (6), Stewart (6), Jones (8), Maisonneuve (6), Deering (7) (Ramos (7) 70), Wynalda (6) (Wegerle (6) 65). Subs Not Used: Friedel, Sommer, Agoos, Balboa, Lalas, Moore, McBride, Radosavljevic. Booked: Hejduk, Pope. Att: 43,815 (crowd rating: 7) Ref: S Belqola (Morocco) 8.

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