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SPORTS> Team News
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Germany opens World Cup on Friday; Brazil the favorite
(Ticker)
Updated: 2006-06-08 09:19 The U.S. will play the Czechs first in Gelsenkirchen on June 12, then Italy on June 17 in Kaiserlautern, then Ghana in Nuremberg on June 22. The Czechs are extremely dangerous, boasting star midfielder Pavel Nedved and goalkeeper Petr Cech.
"It's definitely a tough group," said American midfielder DaMarcus Beasley, who plays for PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. "For me, personally, I thought Czech Republic was one of the best teams in Europe for the past two or three years. They definitely will be a hard opponent for the opening game. "Italy's always tough, they have a lot of history. Ghana, they're a very good African nation ... they have (Michael) Essien from Chelsea, they have a lot of good midfielders that can play." In 2002, the U.S. posted a shocking 3-2 victory over heavily favored Portugal in its first match, then tied host Korea, 1-1, before surviving a loss to Poland to advance to the second round, where the Americans beat Mexico. The Americans then lost to Germany in the quarterfinals, 1-0, despite outplaying their opponent for most of the match. The U.S. will be hard-pressed to make the quarterfinals again. But coach Bruce Arena has a good mix of youth with midfielder Landon Donovan, the speedy Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu along with veterans Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride. If the Americans finish second in the group stage, they would face the winner of Group F - almost certainly Brazil - in the second round. England tops Group B and faces Paraguay on Saturday. Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden are also in Group B and meet on Saturday. Manchester United's Wayne Rooney suffered a broken foot at Chelsea on April 27 and is not expected to be available until the first knockout round for England. Argentina leads a difficult Group C that also has Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro and the Netherlands. A two-time champion and two-time runnerup, Argentina plays its first game on Saturday against Ivory Coast. An archrival of the U.S., Mexico is the seed in Group D which features Portugal, Iran and Angola. Group G is headed by France, which meets Switzerland, Korea and Togo. A weak Group H consists of Spain, Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. The second round of the World Cup begins on June 24. The quarterfinals will be staged on June 30 and July 1. One semifinal game will be held on July 4 and the other on July 5. The championship game is set for July 9.
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