Worldcup 1998 : Program, Friendly - Belgium 2 / United-States 0 , February 25, 1998.

BELGIUM 2 / UNITED-STATES 0, February 25, 1998.

U.S. struggles on offense in 2-0 loss to Belgium

BRUSSELS, Belgium, February 25, 1998 (AP).

Belgium defeated the United States 2-0 in a pre-World Cup exhibition match Wednesday, yet it took the Belgians one hour to take control of the game before a crowd of 16,000 in King Baudouin Stadium.

While American soccer has improved much in recent years -- and has earned respect in Europe -- the game against the Belgians showed that the U.S. team still needs some offensive work.

It's not that they did much wrong Wednesday; they just didn't do much right.

The game came alive in the 23rd minute when Nico Vankerckhoven broke loose on Belgium's left flank, chased the ball hard into the goal mouth and tipped it through the legs of U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

It was an excellent effort, but one that didn't silence the Americans. Alexi Lalas and Eric Wynalda both led U.S. attacks and created scoring opportunities, yet couldn't finish them.

It was only in the second half that the Belgians took control.

Vankerckhoven put his side ahead 2-0 in the 54th minute. A hard and fast free kick by Luc Nilis hit the goal post, sending goalie Keller diving to the left. The ball bounced back, landing before Vankerckhoven, who controlled the ball and fired it hard, hitting the inside of the right hand post.

The Belgians kept up the pressure. In the 64th minute Manu Karagianni -- seeing Keller way out of his goal -- attempted a high and fast lob that just sailed over the goal.

In the second half, the Americans came close to getting on the score board in the 79th minute when McBride caught a high pass on the chest in the goal mouth, but he couldn't get it past goalie Filip de Wilde.

In their own postgame analysis, the Belgians were only moderately pleased.

"We are not used to the American game," said Van Kerckhoven. "We should have scored more."

It was the U. S. team's third game against Belgium. It won in 1930 to advance to the World Cup semifinals and lost an exhibition game 1-0 on April 22, 1995.

The loss to Belgium leaves the Americans with a 4-3 record. They arrived Sunday, one day after a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands in Miami. Wednesday night's game completes a stretch of seven games in 33 days as the U. S. prepares for this summer's World Cup in France.

The Americans have beaten four teams so far in its pre-World Cup exhibition matches: Sweden, Cuba, Costa Rica and Brazil. They lost to Mexico, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Two more games are scheduled in the next three months (Paraguay at San Diego on March 14 and Austria at Vienna on April 22) before final World Cup preparations start in May.

The Americans play Germany, Iran and Yugoslavia in the first round of the World Cup. Belgium has first-round games against the Netherlands, Mexico and South Korea.