US TEAM IN SOUTH AFRICA, READY FOR WORLD CUP PLAY

The United States soccer team has arrived in South Africa and is preparing to start World Cup play.  This may be the most talented US team in recent history, but there are plenty of questions after a couple of uneven efforts in warm up games.  The 23 man roster and a host of coaches left Washington-Dulles International Airport on Sunday and after a day of rest will resume practice.  The US will open Group C play on June 12 against the stiff challenge of an England team that is considered one of the favorites to win the tournament.

The team has set up camp at a renovated farm house midway between Johannesburg and Pretoria behind the protection of stone walls fortified with barbed wire.  There’s also more typical farm amenities including an on-property lake and a number of cows and roosters.  Team captain Carlos Bocanegra says the team is anxious to get the show on the road:

"It's been a long time. Now it's finally here. We're in South Africa. So we're excited for the games to start. It feels real now that we're down here in South Africa and we're set up at our hotel and you see all the World Cup fanfare."

Coach Bob Bradley said that the 17 hour trip was highly uneventful:

“The travel seemed quite easy. Maybe we're used to it by now.”

The team will prepare for the first World Cup in the Southern Hemisphere since 1978 at the Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria.  With the threat of terrorism always a concern, the US team will travel with a heavily armed group of security personnel.  Bradley said that their presence will allow the team to focus on the task at hand:

"We have tremendous confidence in the security around our team.”

Team defense has become a specific concern after the US warm up games.  The US defenders were shredded in a 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic, though they played better in a 2-1 come from behind victory over Turkey.  Captain Bocanegra admits there’s a lot of work to do:

"We're trying to jell as a team and peak come June 12. The thing that sticks out to me just at the moment is to be a bit better defensively and solid, have a better team shape from the back towards the front."

"I think we're familiar with the territory and how things work down here," he said. "We still need to get our feet on the ground here and get going."

"We get to challenge ourselves against the best in the world. That's what it's all about down here."

The US team finds themselves in a favorable group matchup to advance to the knockout stage—aside from powerhouse England, Group C is comprised of less formidable teams from Slovenia and Algeria.  Soccer betting odds have the United States pegged as a +8500 choice to win the entire tournament, which would rank among the most monumental upsets in sports history.