U.S. heads out on a good note
The U.S. national team headed to Brazil with boosted faith Sunday after going undefeated in its send-off series for the first time.
The U.S. national team headed to Brazil with boosted faith Sunday after going undefeated in its send-off series for the first time.
Playing only its third match in nine months against a World Cup team, the U.S. defense appeared firmer Saturday in a 2-1 win over Nigeria after the decision to start both Jermaine Jones and Kyle Beckerman in midfield.
Jozy Altidore broke a six-month scoreless streak for club and country with a pair of goals, including a flashy effort when he cut inside Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo and slotted in a right-footed shot from 12 yards.
"This game gives us confidence, but the whole send-off series should give us confidence," defender Matt Besler said. "It's been a grind but at the end of the day, we accomplished everything we set out to do, and that's to get three wins. That's really all that matters."
The Americans were scheduled to travel from Jacksonville, Fla., to Miami on Sunday, then board a commercial flight for the roughly nine-hour trip to Sao Paulo.
Their opener is June 16 against Ghana, a team similar in style to African champion Nigeria.
"That's the reason why we played this game, to kind of hopefully see maybe some of the things that Ghana will do," Altidore said. "Obviously, it won't be the same. But we hope we take the things that we did well today to the Ghana game and try to use that to our advantage."
Going by FIFA rankings, the Americans' Group G was the most difficult to come out of December's draw. But in the June rankings issued last week, it became the second-toughest with Germany (No. 2), Portugal (No. 4), the United States (No. 13) and Ghana (No. 37) adding to 56. Group D was slightly lower at 53, with Uruguay (No. 7), Italy (No. 8), England (No. 10) and Costa Rica (No. 28).
Final tune-ups
France finished its World Cup warm-up matches by thrashing Jamaica, 8-0, in Lille, France, with striker Karim Benzema scoring two goals.
Iran defeated Trinidad and Tobago, 2-0, in a World Cup warm-up in Sao Paulo played on a training ground that was empty apart from a few journalists.
Ehsan Haji Safi scored late in the first half and Dutch-born Reza Ghoochannejhad added a goal early in the second.
Cameroonians get paid
Cameroon's World Cup players refused to board a plane due to take them to Brazil on Sunday because of a long-running dispute over bonus payments for the tournament, forcing the national federation to take out a loan to meet their demands.
The federation said it had taken out a "private loan" that would give each team member about $12,000.