Keller dreams of U S gaining Euro respect

GELSENKIRCHEN, June 12 (Reuters) Americans soccer players get no respect in Europe because of lingering -- and antiquated -- prejudices about the United States' role in world's most popular game, goalkeeper Kasey Keller said.

Clubs in the top leagues of England, Spain and Germany are still far less inclined to give ''exotic'' Americans a chance while Brazilians or players from European countries can stumble and stay highly regarded because of their passports, he said.

''If you are Dutch or Brazilian it's a lot easier -- that's just the way it is,'' Keller told a group of journalists ahead of the United States' opening match against the Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen today.

He said if a Brazilian flops the thinking is that 'at least he's a Brazilian'.

Keller, who had a superb season in the Bundesliga at Borussia Moenchengladbach, has spent 12 years in three European leagues, with stints at Tottenham, Millwall and Leicester City in England as well as at Rayo Vallecano in Spain's Liga Primera.

The 36-year-old from Lacey, Washington said he has seen on a number of occasions where a player flounders at one club but get snatched up and flourishes elsewhere -- getting an extra chance as long as they are from a great soccer nation.

''If you look at your own teams you see certain players from certain countries get the benefit of the doubt,'' said Kasey, who lives in a German castle with his family. ''Look at Giovanni van Bronckhorst.'' Kasey said the Dutch defender was a ''classic example'' of someone with a European passport having an advantage. He said van Bronckhorst went from Glasgow Rangers to Arsenal but faltered. He went on loan to Barcelona and became a starter.

''If you're an American and struggled at Arsenal you'd end up at the New Jersey Metrostars or Red Bull New York as they're called now,'' Keller said.

DODGY ACCENT Keller said he was unhappy improvements in the quality of top U.S. players and the Major Soccer League have not been fully noticed or appreciated in European circles.

He has also pointed out his coach Bruce Arena, with a sterling nine-year record as the most successful coach in U.S. soccer history, would probably be inundated with offers if he had coached a European country to such heights.

''We've come a long way in the last 14 years,'' Keller said.

''But we've got a ways to go to catch up. Argentina has exported something like 5,000 players to Europe in their history. I think there is obviously a lot of talent out there in America. We've had some successes lately.'' A number of Americans -- such as Claudio Reyna now at Manchester City, DaMarcus Beasley at PSV Eindhoven, and Brian McBride at Fulham -- have made a mark playing for top clubs in Europe and that has improved chances for the next wave, he said.

The balding goalkeeper said he was confident that some day Americans would be duly respected in Europe and predicted it could be the breakthrough of a dynamic U.S. striker who breaks down the final prejudices towards Americans in Europe.

''We're still waiting for that great American striker to emerge,'' he said. ''That guy that Real Madrid have to have and will pay 30 million euros for him. The guy who then goes on to lead the Liga in goal scoring for three or four years in a row.'' Reuters AY DB1001