NEW YORK - Before heading to the World Cup, several members of the U.S. soccer team gathered in New York on Thursday and talked about the expectations generated by the team's No. 5 ranking.

"The ranking has got expectations maybe a bit skewed," defender Chris Albright said Thursday after several U.S. players appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I think it's flattering that we're fifth in the world, but I don't know if that's exactly accurate. But at the same time, what do rankings mean? Who would have thought George Mason would get to the Final Four?"

Tired after a tough training camp and three exhibition games in six days, the Americans had three days off this week. They were to fly out of Newark Liberty International Airport for Hamburg, Germany, later Thursday and start practice Friday ahead of their World Cup opener against the second-ranked Czech Republic on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen.

Despite occasional lackluster play in a tuneup loss to Morocco and wins over Venezuela and Latvia, American players expect a lot from themselves, especially after the surprising run to the quarterfinals four years ago before they lost to Germany.

"Playing-wise, we still need a little more time," midfielder Landon Donovan said. "We did a ton of running, and when you're running that much and you're that tired, you can't play well. You saw in the three games last week that everyone was dragging. Now we have some time to get our legs back."

At 24 and already with 78 international appearances, Donovan is among the marquee U.S. players. He had a breakout performance in the 2002 World Cup, scoring two goals and receiving honorable mention for the All-World Cup team.

The rest of the U.S. team is a mix of veterans and newcomers, ranging from the 12 players who will participate in their first World Cup to 36-year-old starting goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who was on the team in 1990 and 1998.

One veteran who could most affect the U.S. fortunes is midfielder Claudio Reyna, who strained his right hamstring against Morocco on May 23 and missed the games against Latvia and Venezuela. Reyna, the team captain, hopes to resume training Friday.

"He's huge," said forward Brian Ching, a World Cup rookie who scored one of the goals in the 2-0 win over Venezuela. "When he's healthy and on the field, he's the general. He's so good on the ball and so important to our team as far as possession goes. We're going to need him out there if we're going to go far."

After facing the Czechs, the U.S. plays Italy in Kaiserslautern on June 17 and concludes group play against Ghana in Nuremberg on June 22. The group is among the strongest in the tournament.

"It's important for us to do well in this World Cup because of the pressure and the media attention we're getting," Ching said. "People have to understand it's a tough group. A team like France the last time around didn't even win a game or score a goal, and they were the defending champions. When you look at that, you realize anything can happen in these games. I think we have the right mentality and we'll be prepared going in."