US players take final break before World Cup departure

United States soccer fans cheer on their team during the World Cup Germany 2006 Send-Off Series match between the United States and Latvia at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut 28 May 2006. The 2006 FIFA World Cup will take place in Germany from 09 June-09 July 2006. The US won 1-0.

US World Cup players began a three-day rest break before their Thursday departure for Germany and their date with destiny in the global football showdown.

The Americans defeated Latvia 1-0 here Sunday in the last of three warm-up matches played over the past week that allowed US coach Bruce Arena to study combinations and analyze players under match conditions before Cup competition.

"It's hard to judge where we're at," said veteran US forward Brian McBride, whose header in the 43rd minute produced the only goal. "The most important thing is getting through them and getting fitness."

The only major US setback in the three matches was a strained right hamstring suffered by captain Claudio Reyna in a 1-0 loss to Morocco. Arena said he expects Reyna to be back on the field when the US opens World Cup play.

The Americans, who will be based in Hamburg, open Group E play in the World Cup June 12 against the Czech Republic. The US squad will face Italy on June 17 and African champion Ghana on June 22.

Eddie Johnson is seen as the most likely player to partner with McBride on the US front line, but Arena keeps such details to himself, saying the only way to analyze a team is after their World Cup effort.

"That's the only way you can analyze any country in the world, their performance in the World Cup, because that's the ultimate," Arena said.

"Anything I've seen over the last four years we put aside because the true test is June 12, 17 and 22. That will give us a clear answer of where we are."

They could be on an airplane home by that point, or on their way to a match for a quarter-final berth. The US team reached the 2002 quarter-finals in South Korea.