Bruce Arena - the coach behind the upsurge (Allsport)

By Jeff Taylor, PA International

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America stands accused in Britain of ignoring the success of Bruce Arena's US World Cup team.

Many in the country where the sport is called soccer appear to finally be embracing them as they prepare for Friday's quarter-final against Germany.

How do we know?

The cynics, aka the sportswriters, are talking about 'soccer'.

At least while USA are alive in Japan and Korea.

In the Boston Globe, respected columnist Bob Ryan has called on America to get behind the team.

"Either you're a sports fan, or you're not," wrote Ryan, one of the best known sportswriters in America.

"I didn't say baseball, basketball, football, hockey, or Tiger Woods fan. I said sports fan.

"If you think you are, this is the time for you to put up or shut up.

"Get behind our soccer guys, or don't ever bother to claim being a sports fan again, because you will have exposed yourself as a myopic fraud."

The Washington Post has been giving daily coverage and its headline today?

"US Breaks Into Soccer's Inner Circle - It Took Four Years to Transform Americans Into a Contender."

American striker Landon Donovan bumped newly-crowned NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers, Stanley Cup winners Detroit Red Wings and US Open champ Tiger Woods of the cover of Sports Illustrated, the country's best-selling sports magazine.

Team USA is also scoring big on television.

Having already made numerous appearances on the three major network morning shows - ABC, CBS and NBC - the team last night made its debut on the popular "Tonight Show with Jay Leno".

Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Clint Mathis and Joe-Max Moore did a live interview with Leno after his monologue.

Ten USA players will tonight appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman".

The United States' success has caught Americans by surprise.

Why is America finally waking up?

No one gave them much of a chance of surviving the group stage but USA stunned Portugal in their opening game and then drew with co-hosts South Korea.

Despite losing to Poland, they advanced to the second round and hammered bitter rivals Mexico 2-0 to set up a quarter-final against heavily-favoured Germany.

The Miami Herald quotes a German journalist who admits his country's team are under a little more pressure going into the game.

"We wouldn't have to win if we were playing Italy, or Spain or England, but people in Germany will not accept losing to a basketball and baseball nation," Ralf Wiegand said.

"If Germany loses to the United States in [soccer], this is viewed as a national tragedy."

Will the sport finally able to grab a lucrative share of the sports television market?

This is a question asked by USA Today's Michael Hiestand.

He wrote: "Just 33 years after putting a man on the moon, America stands on the brink of an even more improbable feat: Admission, at least temporarily, into the sphere of soccer powers.

"A win against Germany in Friday's World Cup quarter-final would be one giant leap for US soccer.

"It would suggest the tens of millions of American kids who have played soccer, over decades, will eventually produce world-class players.

"It might validate America's Major Soccer League, still struggling to attract even minuscule TV audiences, as a key component to national soccer success on the world stage."

There are some, sadly, who doubt the fun will last.

The Chicago Sun Times expect the interest in football to die after the World Cup even though the city has a Major League Soccer team, the Fire, and is home to football's governing body, US Soccer.

USA players DaMarcus Beasley - one of the revelations of the World Cup for America - and Josh Wolff play for the Fire.

But Chicago is also home to Major League Baseball's Cubs and White Sox, the NBA's Bulls, the NHL's Blackhawks and the NFL's Bears.

Columnist Ron Rapoport wrote: "One or two more US victories in the World Cup, there are those who would like us to believe, and we will be on our way toward becoming a nation of soccer fans. No, again, I'm afraid ... When it comes to following fads, sports fans are like anybody else. They'll go along with the program for a while.

"Will they line up at Major League Soccer stadiums around the country in tribute to the US World Cup team? Not a chance. Not even if the Americans win the whole thing.

"That would be one of the greatest upsets in the history of sport. But what do you want to bet we all would be back to whining about the Cubs two days later?"

As USA Today points out, US Soccer, with a budget that has tripled to 30million US dollars (£20million) since 1990, might still prove an old maxim: With enough time and money, Americans can do just about anything.

"The World Cup is really the only measuring stick to see how far a nation has come in soccer," says Paul Caligiuri, who played on the US national team from 1984-1997.

"The world knows the American athlete is superior. Now, it's only a matter of time before we develop the world's best soccer teams, the world's best players."

America's last eight clash is being shown live on ESPN, America's most popular cable sports station, with its 7.30am kick-off.