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Hitting their stride Timing could benefit U.S. team at Confederations CupPosted: Saturday June 14, 2003 9:48 AMLYON, France (AP) -- The timing of the Confederations Cup could be an advantage for the United States, star midfielder Landon Donovan said Saturday. Donovan believes the U.S. team could run into others with tired legs at the end of long seasons. The eight-nation tournament comes with most of the national leagues -- with the notable exception of the Spanish -- already long finished and many players on summer vacation. For the ones who are here, that means a long extension of the season. "That was an issue at the World Cup as well," Donovan said. At last year's World Cup in South Korea and Japan, which began earlier in June, players from European powerhouses France, Italy and Spain blamed the long season for their teams' poor performances. France, as defending champion, couldn't win a game. At the same time, the United States went on a surprising run to the quarterfinals, to be stopped only by Germany, the eventual runner-up. "It's the same thing now, we are getting right into the best stage of our season," said Donovan, who plays for the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer. "A lot of them [the other teams] may be tired. But they are still good teams." This will be the sixth edition of the Confederations Cup, with the inaugural tournament being held in 1992 in Saudi Arabia. The four other tournaments were held in 1995 (Saudi Arabia), 1997 (Saudi Arabia), 1999 (Mexico) and 2001 (Korea/Japan). Each tournament has crowned a different champion, with Argentina, Denmark, Brazil, Mexico and France having collected the championship trophy. The U.S. has finished in third place both times it entered the event, in Saudi Arabia in 1992 and Mexico in '99. Like the other teams, the United States is using the event as a test before qualifying starts next year for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and has arrived here with young players seeking recognition. Despite the new-look rosters, U.S. coach Bruce Arena believes every team takes the tournament seriously. "There are still very good players in every team," Arena said. "The team Brazil puts on the field against us [next] Saturday will still be one of the best in the world." Brazil, the five-time World Cup champion, is the Americans' second group opponent. The United States opens next Thursday against Turkey, which finished third at last year's World Cup. The last group opponent is Cameroon, the African champion. "In our group, everyone expects us to be bottom, and we understand that," Arena said. "There is not much pressure on us [despite the quarterfinal World Cup showing]," Arena said. "The sport culture in the United States doesn't understand our sport. We have high expectations but not the public." The U.S., which arrived in France Thursday, went through its first training session on Friday at the Complexe Sportif Limonest, a 500-seat municipal stadium located in a small town outside Lyon. Set in the hills, the city-run park serves as the match field for local amateur competitions. Despite warm temperatures and the difficulties of travel, the team conducted a spirited 90-minutes session on an impeccable surface. Training began with a short-field scrimmage with three goals on each end, then moving to a finishing exercise. The team finished with a game of 6-vs.-6 on a shortened field with regulation-sized goals, with the goalkeeping trio of Tim Howard, Joe Cannon and Marcus Hahnemann the stars of day, turning aside numerous quality scoring chances. The team continued once-daily sessions Saturday at 10 a.m. Q&A with U.S. playersAre you getting adjusted to the time change? Bobby Convey: I think it will be a couple more days until everyone gets adjusted. I slept a lot yesterday and rested up, so I should be ready in a couple days. I'm just trying to get on schedule here. Even if I'm tired during the day, I might sleep for 30 minutes and try to stay up a little bit later. That way I can go to bed at a normal time, get up at a normal time and start eating at the right times. DaMarcus Beasley: It's [the time change] taking me a little while to get used to. I went to bed at 8:30 last night, so I was up from 1:30 to 4:30 in the morning. But I think the next couple days will be all right as long as we get out of the hotel and walk around a bit we should be fine. As for me, I'm struggling a bit, but I should be all right. I'll probably take a nap today, so I won't be as tired tonight and can stay up a little later and sleep until 8 or 8:30 tomorrow morning. Chris Klein: I'm trying to get adjusted. I haven't been over here too much, so I tried to listen to guys who have more experience flying back and forth and try and figure out ways to adapt. I got a good night sleep last night and will try to get into my normal routine as quickly as I can. What are your first impressions of Lyon: Chris Armas: The few times I've been to Europe I've always loved the feel you get when you are over here. The weather is nice, and the people give you a warm welcome. We walked around the town a little bit and there's a lot of people out and about. There were a lot of kids playing soccer. We saw three different games going on yesterday in the streets. It's a nice feel over here. Chris Klein: I think it's beautiful. Anytime you come to Europe the thing that strikes me the most is the history and how old everything is, which is pretty cool coming from Kansas City where everything is growing and is brand new. How was the first day of training? DaMarcus Beasley: The facility is very nice and the field is great. The weather was a little hotter than we thought it would be, but everything else is good. The field was good to play on because it was kind of slick and wet so the ball moved well. Everything has been pretty much first class so far. Chris Armas: The facility is fantastic. We couldn't ask for anything better. The great weather and beautiful field make for good training. The field was fairly soft and level and a little wet, so it was good.
Chris Klein: The field and surroundings were very nice. I think the practice was good because it was important for us to get into our normal routine as quickly as possible. We did a good job of getting the travel out of us.
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