Brian McBride is hoping to make it a hat-trick of personal triumphs over Petr Cech and get the United States' World Cup campaign off to a flying start in Gelsenkirchen on Monday night.

The Fulham forward is one of few Premiership strikers to enjoy any success against Cech last season.

After getting himself on the scoresheet in a 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in December, McBride then produced a towering performance when the Cottagers beat the back-to-back champions on home soil three months later.

Now the scene of battle has moved from club to country combat, although McBride knows getting one over on the Czech Republic keeper for a third time will not be easy.

"Petr Cech is a very good goalkeeper, one of the best in the world," said McBride, who celebrates his 34th birthday on June 19.

"He usually gets his angles right and his positioning is very good. But the thing we have to be really aware of is his distribution.

"As soon as we lose possession, we shall have to be prepared to take up defensive positions because he can get attacks moving very quickly."

Although the USA are firm underdogs to emerge from a group which also includes Italy and tournament debutants Ghana, McBride has no reason to feel any sense of inferiority.

Ten goals for Fulham last season represented his best Premiership return and there were plenty of top-flight bosses willing to heap praise on a player whose previous experience of life in England amounted to a couple of short spells on loan with Preston and Everton.

His aerial power could come in very useful against an ageing Czech outfit who, for all their quality, may be a little too reliant on Pavel Nedved and will be without a key man in Milan Baros, who has a foot injury.

"It is nice to hear what people say but that is all behind me now," said McBride, who contributed two goals to the US team when they reached the quarter-finals four years ago.

"I feel the same way about 2002. It was great when it happened and I would like to emulate it. But equally, I would happily settle for not scoring at all if it meant we won every game.

"We need to make a good start and that means getting a result against the Czech Republic.

"People say they are past their best but it is not an opinion I agree with. From what I have seen, they remain a very formidable outfit."