ENGLAND'S national football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson would be green with envy if he could conduct affairs in the way that his counterpart US manager Bruce Arena does.

While the major clubs in England and the rest of Europe often hold players back from training with the national team because of alleged injures and there are often squabbles about how many days the players can be with the national squad, in the United States it is all so different.

In Europe national team players will meet up a few days before an important World Cup or European Championship match and perhaps three weeks before the start of a major tournament.

Not so in the US.

And if anyone is wondering why the US are now a power in the world's most popular sport narrowly losing out a place in the last World Cup semi-finals, then they only have to look at how seriously they take playing, and more importantly, training for the national team.

The US is the 11th-ranked team in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings issued last month ? one behind Italy and three behind England and ahead of such countries like Ireland, European Champions Greece and even 2006 World Cup hosts Germany.

This week the Major League Soccer team, the New England Revolution are playing two warm-up matches in Bermuda in their build up to the season which kicks off in just over a month. But four American Revolution players are not with the team on their tour to Bermuda.

That is because last weekend they joined up with the 22-man US national squad for a month-long training camp in California.

Imagine, if you will, Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsenal's Arsene Wenger releasing their players for a month-long training camp! And the first two games the US will play this month are friendlies ? against Colombia on March 9 and then Honduras on March 19. The US then take on hated rivals Mexico in a World Cup qualifier on March 27 and Guatemala in another qualifier three days later before the players return to their respective clubs.

While the 22-man squad in training camp are players all competing in the MLS, the US's Europe-based players will join up shortly before the Mexico match.

Brad Feldman, spokesman for the Revolution, said: "The only thing we really worry about by having the players away for that long is injuries. We hope they do not come back with injuries. But one thing we don't worry about is whether they will be fit."

And these training camps are not a once-a-year thing ? they are held throughout the year especially in the off-season.

Feldman said: "The way Arena does it is to take guys away from a lot of (MLS) teams. Because the teams are in pre-season he exercises the option of having them in a month-long training camp ? some of it at high altitude. All four of our guys will come back fit barring injury. A problem we do have by having them away for a month before the season starts is getting them integrated into the team. We have eight guys here in Bermuda who are regular starters and then we have some international players and some younger guys," said Feldman adding that there are no protests from the MLS teams when Arena takes away their players for a training camp. "There is no bitterness on our end. What is does is gives some of our other players a chance to play," he said.

While the rest of the world has a rich tradition of football, that is not so in the United States. But all of that is changing ? perhaps a bit too slowly for those who love the 'Beautiful Game' and feel slighted by the lack of enthusiasm for the sport.

Asked if the game gets enough respect, especially in the media, in the US, Feldman said: "Absolutely not."

He added: "And that is part of my job ? to get them sorted out. It is hard for foreign sports to take hold anywhere in the world and the US is no different. America wants to be the best at everything and there is a saturated sports market.

"There is an upside ? and that is soccer is the most popular sport in the US in terms of participation. Out job at the MLS is to make them into soccer fans."

Getting the fans out is slowly coming about, said Feldman, but as far as having the players the US will have no shortage of them.

"You have to remember that the US World Cup team in 2002 in Japan and South Korea had 13 players out of the 23-man squad who were making their living in the MLS and five or six of the other players had played in the MLS. We were within a handball call of taking Germany into extra time in the quarter finals," said Feldman who was brought up in the Boston area and fell in love with the game during the old NASL days which saw the likes of Pele playing in the US.

"All we are lacking is the depth of tactical awareness. We need more guys who actually wake up and turn on the Premiership and Serie A as well as watching the MLS. But we have a new generation of players like Michael Parkhurst and James Riley (both Revolution players in Bermuda) who watch football all the time in their spare time. Andy Dorman, who is from Wales, takes these guys to the pub on the Saturday morning for a cup of coffee and they watch Liverpool and Chelsea ? whoever is on. Guys like Clint Dempsey (who couldn't come to Bermuda because he is with the US national team) would not be able to tell you the names of many of the (European) players but he sees the game and he understands the tactical situation. Once Americans get the feel for the game and really have it in their blood then I think the sky is the limit because of the depth of the pool of athletes we have."

When asked what would happen if the US did win the World Cup, Feldman smiled and replied: "If the US ever does win the World Cup ? boy will that make the rest of the world mad!"

Feldman said that although the MLS is not at the level of the Premiership, the Spanish or Italian leagues, he said: "We don't have an equal product but we do have a comparable product. This is a very good league although we are not at the level of England, Spain and Italy yet. But we can compete favourably against teams from Europe except perhaps the absolute top teams who have so much money. Last year the Revolution played against Sporting Lisbon and that turned out to be bitterly contested ? and we won.

"The MLS gives you a lot of bang for the buck. We have a very good youth system although I realise it is still an unsophisticated market. But the sport is growing fast. The fact at Adidas have agreed to put in $150 million over 10 years to the MLS shows that they believe in the market and the league. We have young international stars and we will be having more and more."

Feldman said that at first the MLS had growing pains. "But now we all feel like the league is not going to implode ? we feel it is firmly established. We are now building soccer stadiums which hold 20,000 or so. Most of the teams are not, or will not, be playing in these huge stadiums. If you have a smaller stadium which is full then you can create atmosphere and that will certainly be a positive development."

And no more will it be like the 1970s and 1980s when top players came over from Europe to make some quick cash.

"We still will have the odd top player at the end of his career but you will not have a situation like the old NASL days when you would get guys who would come over for the summer and play in the US, make their money, and then go back to England. You can't do that anymore."

Now a number of the players are coming out of college. In years gone by US players would play in high school and college and then would have nowhere to go. The MLS has changed all of that.

"Now there is a place for them to go," said Feldman.

But it takes time to build a tradition, he said. But the early signs are there. "(The Revolution's) Michael Parkhurst is out of Wake Forest. He grew up a Revolution fan ? he was at the first ever Revolution match in 1996 and it is the first time we ever had a player gone on to play for the team he supported. That is what we have lacked ? tradition. When you go to Europe you can see that the clubs grow up out of the soil ? places like Anfield and Highbury.

"At first in the US we felt like tenants in these big football grounds. Now we have our own grounds, our own fans ? we are getting established with a tradition. The players are becoming recognisable in the community and the media and that is how you build the game and build your own stars."

The youngest of the new breed of stars is obviously Freddie Adu. Feldman said: "He was young (to play professionally) and I was a little sceptical at the beginning but by the end of the season he proved to be the real deal ? he is a player."

It is still a fight to get the media on the side of the game in the US. "The Boston Globe has arguably the best sports section of any paper in America. We don't get as much coverage as we want, but we do get coverage and other newspapers cover us like the Herald. On the big network affiliates we get game highlights shown and we get one or two features a year. On the smaller stations we are on the news regularly. There are four for five TV stations which have our guys on there as guests and extended highlights so it is improving."

Still it can be an uphill fight. "People in America are afraid of foreign languages, things that are strange. For instance the reason why Australian wines sell well in America is because the labels are in English! It is much more approachable for people. It can be a little bit of xenophobic in some parts of the country. And many of the sports editors do not understand the game ? they do not understand the differences between the Champions League and UEFA Cup and the European Championships which happened last summer in Portugal which I also went to. They can't get their brains around it," said Feldman adding, "but things are changing. We are now getting a new generation of writers who understand."

Of Bermuda, Feldman said: "Setplay (who brought in the Revolution and also brought in Santos last month) want to lay the groundwork for MLS teams to come in the future. We are happy here ? especially with the training grounds and the hotel (Pompano Beach). Last year we went to the Azores and although we had a great time the condition of the fields was an issue. Their best team Santa Clara had a great field ? but they did not want anyone training on it and then when you go to the second division clubs they are still in cinder pitches so it is no comparison with the training pitch here (at the National Sports Centre)."