Carlos' brush with tragedy

He only escaped because he decided to go to a Chinese restaurant for lunch that day. He returned to his office to discover six people were dead, 1,000 were injured and that his office in the lower recesses of the complex had been destroyed.

Two years after the attack, Llamosa got his break in football and quit his job with the All State cleaning company.

He started out with the New York Centaurs and New York Fevers, small teams in America's A League, the equivalent to the English Second Division, before Arena eventually gave him a chance at Washington DC United.

Llamosa is the first to admit he is a squad player, a defender who Arena has come to rely on to mark difficult opponents out of games. He has won only 27 caps for the national team and so far here he has only featured as a substitute, in America's 2-0 second-round win over Mexico on Monday.

But after his narrow escape in 1993 the 32-year-old Colombianborn player says he just feels lucky to be a part of a team bringing a bit of happiness to the American public again.

"I know that when I escaped from the bombing in 1993 I was incredibly fortunate that someone was looking out for me," said Llamosa. "Now, years later, I'm at the World Cup and we've reached the quarterfinals-Sure, I feel very lucky." More than any other member of the American team Llamosa understands the tragic events of 11 September, when the terrorists struck again. But this time he watched the attacks unfold on TV as he waited for his car to be serviced.

"The worst part was watching the buildings collapse," he added. "I kept thinking of the people I used to work with. A couple of the guys are still there. I didn't know if they were alive or dead. That was hard for me. I don't know why these people did that. It's so tragic.

"Right now America needs hope, and we are just making our contribution to the country and to all the Americans around the world."

It's a contribution which is being noticed. The sports cable network, ESPN, said three million people across America tuned in to the victory over Mexico despite its predawnkick-off time. The numbers are still small compared to audiences for the Detroit Red Wings winning ice hockey's Stanley Cup this week, or the viewing figures for the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA basketball triumph.

But Don Garber, president of Major League Soccer which provides most of the players in Arena's squad, believes a win over Germany will force them to the top of the agenda. In fact, he revealed that the front cover of next month's US sports bible, Sports Illustrated, features US winger Landon Donovan. Garber said: "We are the story, even with the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup, we were not lost in all that competitive noise."

Beat Germany, and the USA team will be making headlines all around the world.

Germany v USA
12.30pm, tomorrow, Live on ITV