By NANCY ARMOURs

The Associated Press

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany – They came wrapped in American flags, their faces painted red, white and blue. They wore the stars and stripes proudly across their chests, and announced their presence with chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

Even Elvis showed up as a U.S. World Cup fan. Cheesy, Vegas Elvis.

It wasn’t enough. Not even close.

When it comes to soccer, the Americans have a way to go to catch up with the rest of the world. It showed on the field with a 3-0 drubbing by the Czechs on Monday, and it definitely showed in the stands.

“They didn’t show anything I expected them to do,” said Andy Romhanyi of Phoenix.

This is a good sign.

At least U.S. fans now expect something of their team. The next trick is to get more of their friends to show up.

“It will continue to grow,” said Larry Dowd of Atlanta, who has come to the last few with some of his buddies. “Every World Cup we’ve been to, it’s continued to get better.”

One of the more impressive sights at this World Cup has been the fans, from all over the world, taking over the cities where their team is playing. Portugal fans marched through the streets of Cologne, cheering and whistling. England fans turned Frankfurt into a sea of red and white. Fans of Germany and Brazil are everywhere.

Gelsenkirchen was already filled with happy Czech fans Sunday night, and they took over the arena during Monday’s game, too. Make no mistake, a goal five minutes into the match is a good way to shut up the opposition’s fans.

But the Czechs were so loud, so boisterous, so in sync, it was more like a home game.

“You don’t see anything like this back in the States,” marveled Beau Beaty of Tallahassee, Fla. “Everyone back in the States is so segmented by region. Everyone here is for one country.”

There are far more Americans in Germany than there were 16 years ago. More, even, than the pack that traveled to Japan and South Korea four years ago. And in truth, Czech fans probably filled less than a third of the stadium.

But they sounded as if they were everywhere. Cheering. Whistling. Singing. Pounding on large drums. Tossing confetti when the game ended. Even their president, Vaclav Klaus, got in on the fun, arriving an hour before kickoff to a standing ovation and sitting among his people in the stands.

What the Americans lacked in numbers, they tried to make up for in enthusiasm. They took over a stage before the game and did karaoke renditions of “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Welcome to the Jungle.” Not great, but good effort.

There were frequent chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and loud cheers when Claudio Reyna banged a shot off the post. They booed the referees, and even tried a few rounds of “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole.”

And those Elvises. Chuck Ryan of Los Angeles and more than a dozen of his buddies came in white jumpsuits with silver and gold eagles on the front, and those hideously familiar black wigs.

“Honestly, not too many people like Americans. But we figured everybody likes Elvis,” Ryan said. “So far it’s working.”