Nothing to prove

U.S. aiming to build on World Cup success

LYON, France (Reuters) -- United States Coach Bruce Arena says his team has nothing to prove when its Confederations Cup campaign begins Thursday.

The U.S. team, who face Turkey in Group B at St Etienne, is back in the spotlight after its memorable 3-2 win over Portugal on its way to last year's World Cup quarterfinals.

"We don't have to defend anything we've done," Arena told reporters on Wednesday. "We believe when we step on the field we're capable of beating any team in the world.

"I don't think we need to prove anything," he added. "We're a team who understands where we're at, we just want to continue to get better and our ultimate goal is to return to the World Cup in 2006."

The bullish approach was shared by forward Landon Donovan, whose knowledge of Turkish players in the Bundesliga follows a spell at Bayer Leverkusen from 1999-2001.

As for how the U.S. would cope with the threat from playmaker Yildiray Basturk and striker Nihat Kahveci, Donovan said: "We had that question about Luis Figo, Pauleta, Nuno Gomes and all the Portuguese players.

"Our defenders have shown that they are top class and we expect that they'll do well again."

Defender Gregg Berhalter was more cautious about Thursday's opponents.

"They're good players and I think they're going to have opportunities," he said. "We have to stay concentrated and limit what they try to do."

Though the Confederations Cup is well behind the World Cup in terms of importance, Donovan is determined to enjoy it.

"You can't really compare playing in a World Cup with anything," he said.

"But it (the Confederations Cup) is a tournament with a lot of the best teams in the world, and if you can't get motivated for that then you shouldn't be playing. I'm certainly ready."

Aside from Turkey, Arena's men come up against world champion Brazil and Cameroon in the group phase of the eight-nation tournament.

All three Americans reported a warm welcome from the French public, which cut across the widespread opposition in France during the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"I think they're knowledgeable enough and reasonable enough that if they don't like what's going on they're not going to blame the U.S. soccer team," Donovan said.

 

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