World Cup Capsules: U.S. vs Australia quite a friendly for 4 players

IRENE, South Africa (AP) — After 3½ years of getting ready, it’s time for the final dress rehearsal.

In a refurbished stadium in a western suburb of Johannesburg, the United States plays Australia on Saturday in the Americans’ last warmup match before their World Cup opener against England on June 12. And within the game, there are some intriguing potential matchups that make it quite a “friendly.”

Australian midfielder Tim Cahill will be trying to beat U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, his Everton teammate for the past four seasons.

And American midfielder Clint Dempsey will be trying to get the ball past the Socceroos’ Mark Schwarzer, his keeper at Fulham the past two years.

There’s a lot of mutual admiration.

“Tim is the ultimate competitor,” Howard said Friday. “He’s miserable to play against, you know, and that makes him a fantastic teammate. And he’s a guy who is very, very fun-loving off the field. But every single game I played with him at Everton, he’s been the first one to take the fight to the other team, to get stuck in, to push and shove, to really push the tempo.”

Schwarzer has been so good there have been reports Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants to acquire the 37-year-old to replace Manuel Almunia.

“Any game you play in, you always want to score, but it would be nice to score against Mark because he’s always running his mouth in training,” Dempsey said before cracking a smile.

“He helped us out a lot at Fulham. I think a lot of the success of the team goes to having that experience of him in between the sticks,” Dempsey said. “It’s great having him on the team. He’s someone who has a lot of confidence, has a lot of experience.”

It will be the last chance for U.S. coach Bob Bradley to test a thus-far shaky defense. It will be Oguchi Onyewu’s third game back following October knee surgery and the second for Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit after abdominal strains. Bradley must still sort out whether Steve Cherundolo or Jonathan Spector will start at right back against England.

In the central midfield, it’s unclear whether Michael Bradley will be joined by Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu or Jose Torres.

“We’re still determining how to balance it out,” Bradley said. “Certainly a week before the match we want to continue to move our team forward. That sometimes involves, you know, a different plan for different guys.”

Forward Jozy Altidore could miss the Australia match after spraining his right ankle during training Wednesday. Altidore was held out of practice Friday, instead watching from the bench as his teammates worked out.

Dempsey could be pushed up to forward, which would leave Stuart Holden, DaMarcus Beasley or Benny Feilhaber to start in midfield with Landon Donovan — who spent three months at Everton last season with Howard and Cahill. The other forward candidates are Robbie Findley, Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez.

Bradley is expecting a fast-paced game, partly because the field at Ruimsig Stadium in Roodepoort is a bit narrow.

Howard has one primary goal.

“No injuries, first,” he said. “I don’t think the result is too much of an issue. Obviously, we’d want to win, that would be great, But no injuries and everyone feeling like they’re getting up to speed would be very, very good.”

Cherundolo expects players to go hard — only to a degree.

“I certainly don’t expect anybody to be playing in a reckless manner,” he said. “But the best way to get injured is to go out and try not to get injured.”

Last month, the U.S. lost to the Czech Republic 4-2 using mostly second-stringers and rallied for a 2-1 win over Turkey in the Americans’ U.S. farewell.

Australia coach Pim Verbeek planned to rest Blackburn midfielder Brett Emerton, who has been banged up, and give limited action to Galatasaray forward Harry Kewell, been bothered by a groin injury.

This will be the seventh game for the U.S. in South Africa.

“I think it’s, if anything, a very small advantage that you’ve kind of seen what’s coming our way,” Cherundolo said.

A November 2007 exhibition win over South Africa and five matches at the Confederations Cup last June made the Americans more comfortable, but comfort only goes so far in getting ready to play England.

“Certainly,” Cherundolo said, “there weren’t millions behind their TVs watching the game and following every single result and play.”

U.S. players confident Altidore will be healthy

IRENE, South Africa (AP) — Goalkeeper Tim Howard and defender Steve Cherundolo are confident injured forward Jozy Altidore will be healthy for the Americans’ World Cup opener against England on June 12.

Altidore sprained his right ankle during a training drill Wednesday and missed Thursday’s practice.

While X-rays were negative, he underwent treatment Thursday night and Friday morning. He was held out of training Friday and could miss Saturday’s game against Australia in Roodepoort, the Americans’ last warmup match.

“We all hope Jozy will get better. We think he will,” Howard said. “We’re not losing sleep over it.”

Altidore appeared to be walking without a limp. He sat on the bench during training and watched his teammates.

“He continues to make favorable progress, and his status remains considered day to day,” team spokesman Michael Kammarman said.

Altidore, who spent last season at Hull in the English Premier League, is the most experienced American forward despite being just 20. The other forwards are Robbie Findley, Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez.

“Thankfully, with Jozy, it seems to be just mild,” Cherundolo said. “I think he’ll be OK in a couple of days.”

Findley made the 23-man roster in a surprise to some, but prized by coach Bob Bradley because of his speed. He had an impressive second half in last weekend’s 2-1 exhibition win over Turkey, helping stretch the defense and open space for Altidore, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey.

“It felt good. Whenever you can go out and play like that, it will always help your confidence,” Findley said. “It would have been nice to get a goal, too, but I was effective in different ways.”

In the last season of his contract with Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake, he started in the March 3 exhibition loss at the Netherlands.

“I wasn’t as comfortable as I wanted to be, but I watched game tape and stuff like that, and learned from that,” he said. “Then my teammates told me just do what got you here. You know, be aggressive, go at players and all the rest will come. I went with that as my main focus in that Turkey game.”

Altidore entered training camp as the only forward assured a spot in the starting 11. Brian Ching, a 2006 World Cup veteran expected to make the roster, was cut.

Findley might suit the style the 14th-ranked Americans are expected to employ against No. 8 England.

“If we’re kind of in a defensive mode and we’re playing counterattack, then he’s very useful,” Cherundolo said. “I think especially in the second half of the Turkey game, everybody got to see why he’s effective, not only going forward, but I remember plays where he was chasing down forwards towards our own goal. For a defender to see a forward do that is magic. It really sets the tone for the half for everybody else. There are really then no excuses for any defender or midfielder if a forward is chasing back. So it’s very important, and the more open the game gets, I think the easier it is for Robbie to show us his qualities.”

Saturday’s game will be the first for the U.S. team with the much-criticized Adidas Jabulani ball. While the Americans practiced with it last month, they used Nike balls for home exhibitions against the Czech Republic and Turkey.

“Listen, the ball’s tragic. It’s no secret. Everyone’s said that,” Howard said. “There are going to be some crazy goals in this World Cup based on the ball, and none of them are going to be called back.”

He is rethinking his strategy.

“A lot of balls that are very comfortable for me to catch on a normal day aren’t, and so I just need to kind of figure out, get the ball out of danger,” he said. “If I’m not going to hold it, just try and put it in safe areas, and I think that’s probably going to be the key for a lot of goalkeepers.”

-- Ronald Blum

Other World Cup News

Soccer in SAfrica: long legacy of barrier-busting

Over many decades of minority rule, South Africa’s white authorities wielded every kind of law and policy they could think of to maintain a segregated society that kept blacks down. Yet one sport confounded every strategy — soccer.

When Bafana Bafana, the mostly black national squad, takes the field next Friday as host team of the 2010 World Cup, that moment will culminate the dramatic evolution of South African soccer along a path that foretold the demise of apartheid.

Even in soccer’s early phases, long before apartheid laws formalized racial segregation in 1948, it was a rare and welcome means for blacks in impoverished and unauthorized urban settlements to build their communities, develop their own heroes and break down ethnic barriers.

By the 1960s, the top white teams were maneuvering to play black teams — knowing that was the true test of their prowess. In 1977, the all-white professional league shut down, with many of its players shifting to a black-dominated league that became a showcase for black players, coaches and owners.

“Soccer was a black-run sport, by and large — it was ahead of the curve,” said Peter Alegi, a Michigan State University history professor who writes frequently about African soccer.

Soccer in South Africa dates back at least to the 1860s, when white soldiers and civil servants played matches in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. By 1880, black and Indian clubs were active.

The whites-only South African Football Association was formed in 1892, while black leagues were taking root by the 1920s. In 1935, the first official interracial tournament was launched — with black, mixed-race and Indian teams.

Leepile Taunyane, an 81-year-old former educator who is life president of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League, said those early interracial matches had historic repercussions.

“Soccer played a very crucial role as a form of resistance — never yielding to be being divided by government policy,” he said.

The African National Congress — which went on to become the main force in challenging apartheid — got involved in soccer as a match sponsor. One of its early presidents, Albert Luthuli, helped established an interracial soccer board in Natal province.

Later, many of ANC leader Nelson Mandela’s fellow political prisoners played soccer in their dusty prison yard on Robben Island — a vital means of keeping up their spirits and camaraderie.

Mandela was freed in 1990 and elected president in 1994. In 1995, he donned the Springbok jersey of the nearly all-white national rugby team when it won the World Cup in Johannesburg — a remarkable gesture of unity given that rugby is the sport most cherished by the white Afrikaners who had created and maintained apartheid.

While in power, the Afrikaner establishment never fully embraced soccer. But other South African whites, with roots in Britain, Portugal, Greece and elsewhere, had the sport in their blood — and many were open to interracial competition either as players or fans.

Even in the sport’s early days, Alegi said, there were whites who helped black teams get organized and find a place to play at a time when blacks were legally prohibited from staying in most urban areas.

“In the process, it started building the foundation for the integration that would come later on,” Alegi said. “For a while, sport was the only forum for that.”

Some of the great, predominantly black teams now playing in the Premier Soccer League have remarkable histories dating back to their humble pre-apartheid origins. The Orlando Pirates were founded in 1937, the Moroka Swallows in 1947.

A group of breakaway Orlando Pirates formed the Kaizer Chiefs in 1970, and those two clubs, each drawing fans from the huge black township of Soweto, have developed one of the fiercest rivalries in the sport.

By the late ‘70s, as these teams drew ever bigger followings, some major South African corporations began arranging sponsorships.

“Big business sees the writing on the wall — that there’s money to be made from the emerging black middle class,” said Chris Bolsmann, a South African-born sociologist who now teaches in Britain and has studied the evolution of soccer in his homeland.

Bolsmann went to an all-white high school in Pretoria where he was forced to play rugby, yet became a top-level youth soccer player in the mid-1980s and says the matches he played as a teenager were his first interaction with black peers.

The ‘70s and ‘80s produced an array of brilliant black players — including Ace Ntsoelengoe of the Kaizer Chiefs and Jomo Sono of the Orlando Pirates. They both played in the North American Soccer League as well as in South Africa, and Sono — highlighting the ascension of blacks in the sport — purchased a previously white Johannesburg team when he returned home in 1982.

Tony Karon, a South African-born journalist with Time.com, wrote an essay after Ntsoelengoe’s death in 2006, recalling how the great black stars of the apartheid era had become heroes to young South African fans of all races.

Because of the international sports boycott imposed on South Africa during apartheid, players like Ntsoelengoe never got to represent their country internationally. Yet Karon argues that they played a historic role nonetheless.

“The emergence of Ace and his contemporaries as the first generation of urban black celebrities in South Africa ... was a negation of the very basis of apartheid’s version of black identity as a rural, tribal phenomenon,” Karon wrote.

FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, admitted South Africa as a member in 1952 but suspended it in 1961 because of its segregation policies.

The suspension was upgraded to outright expulsion in 1976, after several hundred blacks were killed in nationwide rioting sparked by the Soweto uprising. Reinstatement didn’t come until 1992, when apartheid laws were dissolving and South Africa’s long-divided soccer associations had united as the nonracial South African Football Association.

“That was a pretty powerful symbol of black institution building,” Alegi said. “At time when there was a heck of a lot of uncertainty, to see that this black-run institution had managed to do away with old racial divisions and then get admitted back into FIFA — symbolically that was very significant.”

In July 1992, South Africa hosted its first official international match with a team representing the entire nation — and beat Cameroon 1-0.

Bolsmann, 20 at the time, watched that game.

“For the first time I identified with a South African team that was made up of everybody,” he said. “It was our team.”

Twelve years later came the ultimate honor — FIFA choosing South Africa to host 2010 World Cup.

Mandela was there for the announcement in 2004, and couldn’t hold back tears. Danny Jordaan, head of the South African organizing committee and a veteran of past struggles to topple soccer’s racial barriers, also was on hand.

“The dream of a nation has come true today,” Jordaan said at the time. “Some South Africans may not have food or a job but they now have hope.”

-- David Crary

Mandela determined to attend World Cup

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The grind of the World Cup begins in a week. The buildup already has been damaging for many teams.

Ivory Coast may have lost its star and captain, Didier Drogba, when he broke his right arm Friday in a 2-0 warmup victory over Japan. England captain Rio Ferdinand is done after injuring ligaments in his left knee during practice hours before Drogba was hurt.

Italy playmaker Andrea Pirlo is resting at home in Milan with a calf injury that could force him out of the world soccer championship. Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar missed practice for the second straight day as he recovers from a back injury.

And American striker Jozy Altidore has a sprained right ankle that makes him doubtful for Saturday’s tuneup match against Australia.

Injuries have run through nearly every team from every continent well before the World Cup begins. Nowhere is the agony stronger than in Ivory Coast.

Drogba, one of the world’s best midfielders, led Chelsea to the English Premier League title this season, scoring 29 goals. But he told teammate Kolo Toure that he will miss the World Cup after being hurt in the warmup match in Sion, Switzerland.

“For him, he said, the World Cup is finished,” Toure said.

The 32-year-old Drogba was taken off 15 minutes into the game after a high challenge by Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka. He was then rushed to a hospital.

“We can just see on his face that he was sad, and when he is like that you can’t ask more,” Toure said. “It is difficult for us because he is such a really important player.”

Team spokesman Eric Kacou told The Associated Press that “it is a fracture in his right arm,” but coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said the team hadn’t officially ruled out its captain.

“We are not sure yet,” Eriksson said, adding Drogba’s participation — the Ivorians open June 15 against Portugal — was “still a possibility.”

Tulio said he had no intention of hurting Drogba.

“God and everybody in the stadium saw it was a normal challenge,” said the Brazil-born defender, who was shown a yellow card. “I do hope he gets better in time to play in the World Cup.”

Ferdinand, who starts in central defense with John Terry, hobbled out of a hospital on crutches after hurting his knee while defending against striker Emile Heskey during England’s first full training session in South Africa. The English open against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12, and Tottenham defender Michael Dawson, who was cut Tuesday, is expected to replace Ferdinand on the roster.

“It came from a minor tackle during the training,” England coach Fabio Capello said.

England goalkeeper David James was unable to train with his teammates and had to work separately in the gym because of knee woes.

Pirlo, the player of the match when Italy beat France to win the 2006 World Cup, injured his left calf in an exhibition loss to Mexico on Wednesday and will sit out the warmup game against Switzerland on Saturday.

The Italian Football Federation said the midfielder will travel with the team to South Africa and continue to be evaluated ahead of Italy’s first match, against Paraguay on June 14. A team doctor said such injuries take 15 to 20 days to heal.

Cesar underwent physiotherapy at the team’s hotel Friday. He fell awkwardly and injured his back in the team’s 3-0 win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday in Harare. Doctors say the injury is not serious and should not keep the goalkeeper from playing in Brazil’s opener against North Korea on June 15.

“It’s not a big problem,” coach Dunga said. “In two or three days, he will be back to normal.”
Starting left back Michel Bastos left practice with an ankle problem. Brazil team doctor Jose Luiz Runco said Michel Bastos was hit in the right ankle, but the injury was not a concern.

Altidore should be OK for the U.S.-England match, and his teammates fully expect to see the striker at his peak. He was injured during training Wednesday.

“We all hope Jozy will get better. We think he will,” keeper Tim Howard said. “We’re not losing sleep over it.”

Perhaps FIFA should be losing sleep over these injuries, says Jose Luis Chilavert, Paraguay’s former standout keeper.

“FIFA should plan ahead and give the players more time to rest to have a good World Cup,” he told The Associated Press. “Sadly, what happens is that the commercial side is what moves everything nowadays.

“Sometimes the commercial aspect is more influential than the sporting and then you put the body at risk. The truth is that the football player wants to play, but you have to take into account that the body needs rest and that we’re not robots.

“You have to take precautions in the right moment. If I was a coach, I wouldn’t be playing friendly (matches) at this time.”

-- Barry Wilner

Some World Cup teams wear it better than others

Some World Cup teams are all beauty and elegance. Others are more workmanlike, almost to the point of being bland. And then there are those that are, no getting around it, tough to look at.

Style of play? Well, yes, that too.

David Beckham aside, the World Cup isn’t a fashion show. When guys are representing their countries in front of billions of people all over the world, however, it helps if they look good doing it.

“First and foremost, you want to make a kit that represents that country well in terms of tradition and color,” said Tim Yu of Nike, which designed the U.S. uniforms as well as those of Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia and South Korea.

“In terms of performance, we really do have the athletes in mind and work closely back with them to make sure we’re addressing their needs.”

The functionality folks will find plenty to love in South Africa.

Nike’s jerseys are made entirely of polyester thread that’s been recycled from plastic bottles, and are 13 percent lighter than previous uniforms. Puma used actual soil samples to create the color scheme for its “Unity Kit,” a third uniform for the African nations that promotes awareness of plant and animal conservation as part of the U.N.’s International Year of Biodiversity.

And for sports fashionistas, there’s enough to keep you entertained for the entire monthlong tournament, starting with Slovenia and its Charlie Brown jerseys.

That thick, jagged line on the front of both the home and away uniforms may represent the mountains of Slovenia. But when you’re the smallest country in the tournament, have no big-name players and got stuck in the same group as England and the United States, you need to do something to stand out, not look like a blockhead (in ugly colors, to boot).

Australia isn’t much better. The horizontal line (white on the home jersey, yellow on the away) running from one armpit to the other makes the Socceroos look as if they’re wearing shrugs.

If Hamburglar ever talked, he’d be screaming copyright infringement over Ivory Coast’s green-and-white striped away shirts. Broadcasters will love Denmark’s red home jersey because it can double as a late-night test pattern.

Thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s slicked-back ducktail, Portugal’s away jersey featuring a red-and-green highway down the center isn’t the team’s biggest fashion faux pas. England should consider stashing a few of its home whites away for 2016, when golf returns to the Olympics.

Greece’s home and away shirts are the same, solid white (home) or blue (away), with thin lines of the opposite color running from the collar to the armpit and at a diagonal at the bottom. It’s not bad, it’s just ... boring. Which is fitting, considering that’s the way the Greeks play.

As for France, there’s just no way to explain, or excuse, that home jersey with the red and white ribs. Or wings. Or whatever they are.

Of course, it’s not easy making all of these countries stand apart. Or finding a way to make them look different than they did four, eight or 12 years ago.

“It’s always a challenge, because you need to look fresh and need to bring innovation,” said Filip Trulsson, senior manager for international team sports at Puma, which designed the uniforms for defending champion Italy, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Switzerland.

“We’re only human so, of course, internally, we have our own favorites. Overall, we’re extremely pleased with the 2010 kits on the Africa side.”

With good reason. Kids who don’t know Algeria from Albania are going to be clamoring for any one of the jerseys from Puma’s African teams (except that Hamburglar one, of course) with their unique designs and bold, vibrant colors.

Ivory Coast’s home jersey is sherbet orange, while Cameroon’s away shirt is bright yellow with red stripes that appear to have been painted on with a brush. Algeria’s away kit is sage green, a color underappreciated outside the Home Depot paint department.

Best of all, there’s a surprise “hidden” on every home jersey. African teams are the clear winners in the nickname game, and designers screened an image of the team’s nickname on the right shoulder.

Look closely, and you’ll see an image of a Desert Fox (Algeria), a Black Star (Ghana), an Elephant (Ivory Coast) or an Indomitable Lion (Cameroon).

“These symbols carry a very strong meaning,” Trulsson said.

Simple looks can stand out, too. It doesn’t get much more basic than the Dutch orange or Argentina’s light blue and white stripes. Doesn’t get much better, either. Spain’s look is clean — solid shirts in red (home) or black (away), with stripes running down the sleeves and the federation crest above the heart — but powerful.

Brazil has worn essentially the same home uniform of cobalt blue shorts and canary yellow shirts with green trim for almost 50 years now, and it’s still as cool as when Pele was wearing it.

“Brazil and Pele were at their peak when color TV just took off,” said Alex Bellos, author of “Futebol, the Brazilian Way of Life.” “The iconography of that yellow from 1970, it’s the first imprint of international sporting brilliance.”

There are no style points in soccer, of course. But as the teams are making their last-minute preparations, remember the photos from South Africa will be looked at — and, in some cases, laughed at — for years to come.

-- Nancy Armour

Artificial grass woven into real turf at World Cup

DENDERMONDE, Belgium (AP) — Artificial grass is teaming up with the natural stuff and taking root at the World Cup, blade by blade.

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Nelson Mandela is determined he will attend the opening game of the World Cup in Johannesburg in a week’s time because it would realize his dream, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Friday after meeting the former president.

Speculation is intense whether the 91-year-old Mandela, South Africa’s most famous citizen, will be well enough to attend any World Cup games. He is not suffering from a specific illness, but is reported to be very frail.

Blatter revealed he had a brief meeting with Mandela on Thursday, and Mandela said he wanted to be at next week’s opening game.

“All I can say is that he (Mandela) is convinced that he shall be at the opening,” Blatter said. “He wants to be there because he wants to live up to his dream.

“We just cross fingers that his dream will be realized ... and he will honor the opening and the kickoff to this World Cup.”

On Thursday, African National Congress spokesman Jackson Mthembu said Mandela will make a rare public appearance at next week’s tournament opener between the host nation and Mexico, and also at the July 11 final.

“Madiba will grace both the opening and the closing of the World Cup,” Mthembu said, using the traditional clan name by which Mandela is affectionately known in South Africa. “We are very honored to have an icon of Mandela’s caliber to grace this important event. We are very happy that Madiba will come. The Madiba magic will add to the excitement.”

A spokesman at Mandela’s foundation would not say if Mandela would attend the Mexico-South Africa match, saying they do not disclose his schedule ahead of time for security reasons.
Blatter handed over the World Cup trophy on Friday to South Africa’s vice president Kgalema Motlanthe, who said the glittering prize will remain in Africa.

Motlanthe, acting in place of President Jacob Zuma, who is on a state visit to India, took charge of the World Cup on the steps of the Union Buildings in the capital city.

At the Union Buildings around 50 members of the presidential staff, wearing colorful scarves and hats, watched the trophy hand-over and blew on their vuvuzela trumpets.

Motlanthe, who had a yellow South African soccer shirt on, said Africa’s first World Cup marked a turning point in the history of the competition. He backed the country’s national team to win the tournament and keep the trophy in Africa.

“It is not only the first time that Africa hosts it but it is also the first time the trophy actually remains on the continent of Africa,” he said as the crowd cheered.

The World Cup later appeared in Soweto, the famous sprawling township on the southern outskirts of Johannesburg, where it was put on display at a community center hall. Fans, mostly groups of noisy schoolchildren, were allowed one minute next to the glistening gold trophy to take photos before being hurried along.

Nearby, Johannesburg city officials unveiled a giant poster of Mandela smiling and holding the World Cup trophy. The image, captured in Zurich in 2004 when South Africa won its bid to host the tournament, will hang from the city’s Mandela Bridge throughout the tournament.

PROFESSOR DUNGA: Brazil coach Dunga gave a speech to hundreds of students at the Johannesburg high school where the team is practicing for the World Cup.

Dunga spoke to students and employees at the Randburg High School on Friday, answering questions and receiving a tribute.

A Brazilian soccer confederation spokesman said the students chanted the coach’s name when he entered the school.

Dunga said the students “wanted to show how much they admired the Brazilian national team.”
Most of Brazil’s training sessions have been closed to the public, but some students at the school have been able to sneak in to take a look at the Brazilian players.

Dunga captained Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title.

REMEMBER CABANAS: Paraguay President Fernando Lugo is using absent striker Salvador Cabanas, who survived a gunshot wound to the head 41/2 months ago, as a source of inspiration for the country’s team in the World Cup.

Lugo sent a letter to team members, which was published Friday, asking them to remember Cabanas if they encounter difficult moments at the World Cup. Cabanas, who was to be the team’s starting striker, was shot in the head in late January in a Mexico City bar. He played for Mexico’s Club America.

Paraguay is playing in its fourth straight World Cup and opens on June 14 in Cape Town against defending champion Italy. Slovakia and New Zealand also play in Group F.

PORTO COACH: FC Porto’s new coach Andre Villas Boas, a former assistant to Jose Mourinho, has started work at the club’s Stadium of the Dragon.

Villas Boas took charge Friday after signing a two-year contract.

The 32-year-old is regarded as one of Portugal’s most promising young coaches. He was an assistant to Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan before becoming coach of Portuguese first division club Academica last October.

Academica, a club with meager financial resources, finished 11th in the 16-team league.

Coach Jesualdo Ferreira left Porto by mutual consent last month. He guided Porto to three consecutive league titles after taking charge in 2006, but could only manage a third-place finish last season.

Kaka not worried with his fitness at World Cup

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Kaka says he’s ready for one of the biggest challenges in sports: leading Brazil at a World Cup.

Kaka enters the tournament as Brazil’s biggest star, but he also arrives bothered by injuries. The brilliant playmaker, however, is confident he will be in good physical condition when the World Cup begins for the five-time champions on June 15 against North Korea.

“I am getting better every day,” Kaka said. “The injury does not bother me anymore. I’ve been doing everything planned so far, and by the time we play the opener I will be in great condition.”

Kaka is coming off an injury-plagued season that kept him from being at his best with Real Madrid. He had groin and thigh problems that kept him sidelined for 45 days at one point, unable to perform like the FIFA player of the year he was in 2007.

Brazil doctors said the groin problem is not an issue anymore, and that the left thigh ailment should not keep Kaka from starting for Brazil in the team’s opener.

“I was worried at first,” Kaka said. “It was very limiting, but now I’m being able to move around much better. I’m going through intense treatment, and with 10 days left until the opener I will be fine.”

Kaka has been practicing normally with the rest of the Brazilian players since the team arrived in South Africa on May 27, but continues to receive separate treatment even when the other players get a break.

He played 45 minutes in Brazil’s 3-0 warmup win over Zimbabwe in Harare on Wednesday and said he felt fine.

“It wasn’t my best match with Brazil, but it was very positive,” the 28-year-old Kaka said. “I was able to do a lot on the field without any problems.”

It was his first match in more than a month, and coach Dunga also was pleased with what he saw.

“He is progressing, and the tendency is for him to keep improving,” Dunga said.

Kaka was already a top player with Brazil at the 2006 World Cup, but at the time he shared much of the spotlight with Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Adriano. Now, few players are attracting similar attention to what Kaka draws.

Wearing Brazil’s famed No. 10 jersey, Kaka knows all eyes will be on him this time.

“I’m ready to be one of the team’s leaders, I’m ready to take this responsibility,” Kaka said. “I’ve always accepted this responsibility.”

Kaka also was a member of the 2002 team that won the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, but he played less than 25 minutes in that tournament.

One of Adidas’ high profile players, Kaka also downplayed complaints from teammates about the ball being used in this month’s tournament, saying such criticism is normal before every World Cup.

“I’m not going to criticize the World Cup ball,” he said. “I always hear players complain about the ball in every competition. People were complaining a lot in the first week, but then everyone starts adapting to it and things start changing.”

Players from Brazil and other nations complained about the ball, some even comparing it to those bought at supermarkets.

“It’s a new ball, and everything new causes an impression,” he said. “There have been some complaints now, but maybe during the World Cup players will start saying different things.”

-- Tales Azzoni

'Impeccable' Spain expects Torres back before WCup

RUSTENBURG, South Africa (AP) — England captain Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the World Cup on Friday after injuring his left knee in the team’s first full training session in South Africa.

The 31-year-old center back sustained the ligament damage while defending against striker Emile Heskey at England’s training ground near Rustenburg a week before England’s opener against the United States on June 12.

Hospital tests showed that Ferdinand will be out for four to six weeks and his place on the roster will be taken by Tottenham defender Michael Dawson, while midfielder Steven Gerrard assumes the captaincy.

“It is obviously bad news and everyone with the squad is very disappointed and sorry for Rio,” England coach Fabio Capello said. “It was an accidental injury in training, but had nothing to do with the pitch.”

It came at the end of another injury-plagued season for Ferdinand at Manchester United, whose back problems forced the defender to just 12 starts for United.

Matthew Upson or Ledley King, who has chronic knee problems, are likely to take Ferdinand’s starting spot in central defense alongside John Terry.

Dawson was cut Tuesday but put on standby as a possible replacement for Ferdinand. Under FIFA rules, injured players can be replaced up to the day before the opening game.

Another concern for Capello is the fitness of injury-prone goalkeeper David James, who was unable to train with his teammates at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus and worked separately in the gym.

James is competing for the starting spot with Robert Green and Joe Hart.

“David James has a little problem with the knee after a long flight,” Capello said. “It is not such a big problem.”

There was positive news regarding Gareth Barry, with the midfielder training for the first time since injuring his right ankle a month ago.

The ligament damage sustained by Barry playing for Manchester City on May 5 made uncertain his inclusion on the 23-man World Cup squad, but he made the cut after a medical check on Tuesday.

“We have to wait day by day to see what happens with the ankle,” Capello said. “The work is harder every day, stronger every day.

“In the afternoons he trains in the gym with the physio and in the morning with the team, but not completely with the team. We have to be careful with every moment and make sure the ankle is really good.”

Former captain David Beckham, whose World Cup campaign was ended by an Achilles’ tendon injury, has traveled with the squad.

“He will help in some moments. He is not a coach and he also trains alone,” Capello said. “But he is important because he is one of the symbols of England. It is important he is here and not on holiday.

“He can speak with the players and find some solutions. He is part of my team.”

-- Rob Harris

Drogba says he’s out of World Cup with broken arm

SION, Switzerland (AP) — Didier Drogba told teammate Kolo Toure that he will miss the World Cup after breaking his right arm Friday in a warmup match.

“For him, he said, the World Cup is finished,” Toure said.

The 32-year-old Drogba was taken off 15 minutes into Ivory Coast’s 2-0 win over Japan after a high challenge by Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka. He was then rushed to a hospital.

“We can just see on his face that he was sad, and when he is like that you can’t ask more,” Toure said. “It is difficult for us because he is such a really important player.”

Team spokesman Eric Kacou told The Associated Press that “it is a fracture in his right arm,” but coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said the team hadn’t officially ruled out its captain.

“We are not sure yet,” Eriksson said, saying Drogba’s participation was “still a possibility.”

Toure said Ivory Coast’s players were hoping for a surprising recovery, and said the team would know more later Friday. Tulio said he had no intention of hurting Drogba.

“God and everybody in the stadium saw it was a normal challenge,” said the Brazil-born defender, who was shown a yellow card. “I do hope he gets better in time to play in the World Cup.”

Drogba scored 29 goals in 32 Premier League matches this season, helping Chelsea win the title.
Friday’s friendly was the final warmup for Ivory Coast and Japan before they travel to South Africa. The Ivorians open the World Cup on June 15 against Portugal in Port Elizabeth, while Japan begins a day earlier against Cameroon in Bloemfontein.

Drogba appeared to be holding his right side after Tulio’s challenge. After returning from the hospital, the striker entered the team bus without speaking to reporters.

Eriksson said the injury was unlucky, and didn’t blame Tulio.

“It wasn’t bad or stupid. He didn’t want to hurt anyone,” the Swedish coach said. “Football is a game of contact.”

-- Graham Dunbar

Italy midfielder Pirlo has calf injury

MILAN (AP) — Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo is resting at home following a calf injury that could force him to miss the World Cup in South Africa.

The AC Milan midfielder injured his left calf muscle in the friendly loss to Mexico on Wednesday and will now sit out the exhibition against Switzerland on Saturday.

The Italian Football Federation says Pirlo will travel with the team to South Africa and continue to be evaluated ahead of Italy’s first match against Paraguay on June 14.

Pirlo was man of the match in the 2006 World Cup final and took a penalty kick in the shootout victory over France. He also scored Italy’s first goal of the tournament in a 2-0 victory over Ghana.