USA Suspects Czech Republic Injuries Just a Smokescreen

Arena, whose tenure since October 1998 makes him the longest-serving manager of any Cup team, said after a training session last week that nations once awed by soccer's elite are ready to serve notice.

"This time, some of the big boys are going home early," he said.

"The world of football is shrinking," Arena added. "Players on these big teams are going back to their national teams and making them better. These teams are not intimidated like they were many years ago."

Arena noted that in 1990, when the US team ended a 40-year World Cup qualifying drought, it would have been unthinkable to beat a second-ranked Czech team. Now the Americans are fifth entering Monday's Group E match at Gelsenkirchen.

"Their players are the same as we are," Arena said. "We're pretty confident when we step on the field against the Czech Republic."

That faith does not come from reports of injuries to several Czech stars, including leg injuries to striker Tomasz Rosicky and a knee injury to midfielder Tomas Galasek.

"You can't believe everything you read in the papers," Arena said. "I would guess on Monday we're going to see all of them on the field. We're preparing to play against all their players. We're not going to believe anything until we see otherwise."

Reports of injured Czechs increase daily

According to reports, the Czechs would be hard pushed to field a first string team before Sunday's clash. Striker Milan Baros has joined the list of crocked stars after aggravating a foot injury in his first training session since overcoming a similar injury.

"He can't even jog, the only physical exercise he can do is cycling," coach Karel Brueckner told reporters after the training session in Westerburg.

Although Brueckner has not formally ruled Baros out of Monday's game, speculation is growing over who might replace him in the starting line-up.

Jan Koller will be the starting striker and Marek Heinz and Jiri Stajner would be considered as replacements for Baros. Some commentators have even suggested midfielder Libor Sionko taking a more forward role after he came into the squad for Vladimir Smicer who withdrew with an injury.

"If you're talking about for example speed ... then maybe I have an advantage," Sionko told reporters when asked if he thought he was the better placed of the three to take Baros'

place. "It's very difficult to say. Of course there are always chances."

Baros was the top scorer in Euro 2004, when the Czechs reached the semi-finals, and his absence would be bad news for the team making its World Cup debut. But the Czechs have plenty of attacking options even if Baros is ruled out of the USA clash.

"We have got good shooters in midfield, like Pavel Nedved and Tomas Rosicky," Koller said.

Meanwhile, US leading scorer Landon Donovan said it has taken him a week to adjust himself to the travel and building a routine in Germany.

"Today is the first day I could sleep well and felt my legs under me the right way," Donovan said Thursday. "Now we can start preparing.

"The next three or four days are going to be about watching tapes and preparing for the Czech Republic and making plans how to beat them."

US coach keeping match tactics under wraps

Arena typically has not let players know who will start this far in advance and has kept the Americans guessing with rearranged lineups in workouts.

"We've been working in different groups in training all week," said US midfielder Pablo Mastroeni. "We've prepared ourselves mentally and physically to play a good Czech team."

The US focus has been upon the Czechs in the opener ahead of group rivals Italy and Ghana just as it was on Portugal in the 2002 US World Cup opener, when the Americans won 3-2 on the way to a shock run to the quarter-finals.

"It's tough to move on if you lose the opening game," Donovan said. "This is a three-game season. You have three chances to make an impression."

With soccer growing in the United States, there is less urgency for World Cup heroics to build US interest in the game. That does not mean Arena doubts his team can match its run to the final eight from 2002 in South Korea.

"I don't think we need to match what we did four years ago. Is it realistic? Sure, I think we can get through the group.

"The sport is growing in the United States and is only going to continue to grow. The future of our sport in our country is not solely dependent upon our results in the World Cup."