SEOUL, South Korea — Even though the United States needs only a tie against Poland on Friday to advance to the second round of the World Cup, the Americans are worried.

        “They have not played as capable as they are in the first two games and that scares me,” U.S. coach Bruce Arena said Thursday.

        British bookmaker Ladbrokes lists the United States as an 8-11 favorite to beat the Poles, the first European team in qualifying to clinch a berth, but already eliminated by going 0-2 here.

        With their 3-2 upset of fifth-ranked Portugal and their 1-1 tie with co-host South Korea in front of 61,000 roaring, red-clad fans, the Americans moved within one point of a second-round matchup with either Italy, Mexico or Croatia. They would advance with a win, a tie — or even a loss if South Korea either beats the Portuguese or loses in a rout that swings goal difference.

        “I think we better win the game outright,” defender Eddie Pope said. “I think it's dangerous to try and play for a tie. That's certainly something that I don't think most of the guys feel comfortable with. I think that if we go out and play hard and do the things we've done in the past, and do the right things, we have an opportunity to win.”

        Heading into the final group games, South Korea and the United States are both 1-0-1 with four points, followed by Portugal (1-1) with three. South Korea leads on goal difference, 3-1. The Americans have scored four and given up three.

        If the Americans finish second, they would play their second-round game Monday. If they win the group, they would get an extra day off and play Tuesday. The chance of a quick turnaround has Arena thinking “it wouldn't hurt to give a couple of players a break.”

        “It's something we've talked about,” he said, “but we don't play on Monday and Tuesday unless we win on Friday, and that's got to be our approach.”

        Arena and his team are proud of the reaction back home, maybe even a little surprised at the number of soccer fans who are gathering to watch games at odd hours.

        In 1998, when the tournament was in France, games were televised during the daytime in the United States. It was hard to gauge coming in how many people would watch games that start at 2:30 a.m., 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. EDT, but the first two U.S. games were watched in more than 1 million households each. The team thinks that can only help the sport.

        “My understanding is our performance to date has drawn a lot of attention in the United States,” Arena said. “We're growing, not by leaps and bounds, but we're making progress.”

        Poland is trying to salvage something in its first World Cup appearance since 1986. The Poles, slower than Portugal and South Korea but perhaps more physical, lost 2-0 to the South Koreans and 4-0 to the Portuguese.

        “We did very well in qualifying, but we haven't won a match since December 2001, and we didn't even play the top nations beforehand,” goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek said. “If we had done that, like Korea did, maybe we would have lost, but we would have got valuable experience from those better teams.”

        Dudek thinks the Poles have almost an obligation to beat the Americans.

        “We have to make some present or gift for the Korean people,” he said. “We want to win for them, because if we beat the United States, it might help the Koreans go through to the next round — and they should.”

        Notes: Arena said his one regret in the South Korea game was not putting midfielder Pablo Mastroeni in as a substitute. ... MF Earnie Stewart said the strained left groin that kept him out of Monday's game is no longer a problem ... MF DaMarucus Beasley and Ds Jeff Agoos and Frankie Hejduk each have one yellow card and Arena could keep out some or all of them to make sure they don't get a second yellow and receive an automatic one-game suspension. ... Polish MF Piotr Swierczewski is suspended for the game for getting two yellow cards.