Serious competition

Arena wary of new-look opposition at Confed Cup

LYON, France (AP) -- Mention to Bruce Arena the new-look squads of many teams at the Confederations Cup and suggest that they may not be the best each nation has to offer and the U.S. coach starts reeling off names.

"Ronaldinho? Kleber? Lucio? Edu? These are not good players?" Arena says of Brazil's lineup. "Did you see them against Nigeria?"

Brazil, the five-time champion, is without its World Cup hero Ronaldo, among others. But it still has enough fire power and talent, as demonstrated by its 3-0 thrashing of the Super Eagles last week.

Arena, whose team is in the same group as Brazil, concedes that the eight-team Confederations Cup is an opportunity to look at new players ahead of the beginning next year of qualification for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

"Still, there are very good players in every team. Everyone takes this tournament seriously," Arena said. "The team Brazil puts on the field against us on Saturday will still be one of the best in the world."

Arena, though, is still focused on what he calls the bigger scheme of things.

"The big picture is qualifying for the World Cup," he said.

"We have many new faces. We believe this is a good time to start building up for qualifying next year. We are giving some players the opportunity to show what they can do," Arena said.

The U.S. team finished third both times it was invited to the Confederations Cup, in 1992 in Saudi Arabia and in 1999 in Mexico.

At last year's World Cup, the Americans shocked many by making it to the quarterfinals.

Arena is trying not to put too much pressure on his players: matches against Brazil, African champion Cameroon and Turkey, the third place team at the World Cup, is daunting enough.

"There is not much pressure, but we do have high expectations. Every time we step on the field, we expect to win," he said.

Star midfielder Landon Donovan said his team would "try to win the tournament."

"For us, it's a good preparation for the next World Cup. But we want to play well, we have some new players and they need some confidence," he said.

Defender Greg Vanney also said that although the focus was on next year's qualifying, finishing among the top two in the group and reaching the semis was possible.

"We are underestimated as a team, but we'll step out in the right frame of mind. Everyone can beat everyone on a given day. If everything went according to paper, we need not be here," Vanney said.

 

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