SAITAMA, Japan -- Now that Dirk Nowitzki is gone, the United States is headed for a gold medal game showdown with Spain or Argentina.

Not exactly. It only seems that way around here.

For days, U.S. players have been asked about a potential matchup with one of those two international powerhouses in the final game of the world championships. Meanwhile, the other unbeaten team, which just happens to be the reigning European champion, has remained largely anonymous.

And Greece's players wouldn't mind at all if they stay that way to the Americans.

"I hope that's true. For me, it's good like this," Greek guard Theodoros Papaloukas said. "If the game goes wrong for them, they'll be stressed."

The U.S. and Greece meet in Friday night's first semifinal game, followed by Spain and Argentina in the nightcap. All four teams are 7-0.

After winning a balanced Group C, Greece has been just as impressive in its two wins here as the other three teams. Those victories over China and France still haven't made the Greek players very recognizable to those outside Europe.

Spain has Pau Gasol. Argentina has Manu Ginobili.

Greece has some big names, too -- though only in length.

"The names are too long," Carmelo Anthony said. "The names are very, very long. I'm going to have to learn them overnight."

The U.S. earned its spot in the semifinals with an 85-65 victory over Nowitzki and Germany on Wednesday night. The Americans turned up their defensive pressure to break away in the third quarter, overcoming a horrendous shooting night in which they missed 30 of 40 3-point attempts against the Germany zone.

Greece didn't need to see that spurt to realize what the Americans can do when they can force turnovers to fuel their transition game.

"You do not want it in the open court because if the U.S. runs up and down the court it gets opportunity to play an easy game," Greek coach Panagiotis Yannakis said. "We have to play our game with defense and don't pass the ball to their hands. If you do this, you're in the game."

Defensively, Greece wants to play the same way. Using their big guards to key a trapping defense, the Greeks force 24 turnovers per game

They could have some success because none of the primary American ballhandlers: Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Kirk Hinrich, is big. However, Mike Krzyzewski could get around that by having LeBron James bring the ball up and initiate the offense, as he has done frequently.

Greece held France to its lowest point total in the tournament in a 73-56 victory in Wednesday's first quarterfinal. Now the Greeks can guarantee themselves a second straight medal in a top event.

"If it's USA and we have to beat them to get a medal, we just have to bring down the lights," said Greek forward Sofokolis Schortsanitis, who bears a strong resemblance to former Florida player Dametri "Da Meat Hook" Hill.

A victory would bring recognition to a team that has no current NBA players. Antonis Fotsis played briefly with the Memphis Grizzlies, and guard Vasilis Spanoulis is headed to the Houston Rockets. That's about the limit of Greece's ties to the NBA.

Still, the Americans have promised not to take their opponents for granted and assume a spot in Sunday's game is theirs.

"Our team won't look past Greece," Krzyzewski said. "Greece hasn't lost. You just watch them on tape, and if you're a player, coach who knows anything about basketball, you say, 'Those guys can play."'

Papaloukas is probably Greece's best, having earned MVP honors at the European championships and the Euroleague Final Four last year. Now he tries to put his team a win away from its biggest title yet.

"I'm not stupid to say I know we can beat the United States. But I know that we're going to try very hard and give all our energy for this game," Papaloukas said.

"And you know, by the way, basketball is basketball. USA has the big advantage, but you never know. Basketball is like life sometimes. Don't make plans for life because life has different plans for you. That's what I say."