World Cup Team Feature Capsules: Mexico's Franco recovers from foot injury
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Mexico forward Guillermo Franco hopes to start in the World Cup's opening match against South Africa after recovering from a foot injury.
The 34-year-old Franco injured a toe on his right foot in the exhibition game against England on May 24 and has not played since. He said he's "100 percent recovered" and ready to play Friday against South Africa.
"I'm feeling very good because the injury has gone away," Franco said Wednesday.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre now has a tough choice: start Franco or 22-year-old Javier Hernandez, who has scored three times in four games and was recently signed by Manchester United.
"I think that all of us have the same opportunities to play," Franco said. "It's his (Aguirre's) decision. For me, the most important thing at the moment is that I'm fine, and if he decides that I should play, I'm ready."
Franco, a naturalized Mexican born in Argentina, started for Mexico at the 2006 World Cup. He was dropped by coaches Hugo Sanchez and Sven Goran Eriksson, but when Aguirre took over, he recalled Franco to the team.
Franco is one of the few veterans on a young Mexico team. Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez, goalkeeper Oscar Perez and midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco are the other veterans.
The team is "a good group" of players, Franco said.
"In this World Cup, youth and experience are blending together," he said. "We're prepared and motivated to have a great World Cup."
Mexico is in Group A with South Africa, Uruguay and France.
Cole warns England displays 'might not be pretty'
RUSTENBURG, South Africa (AP) — England fans preparing to witness soccer with a flair from their World Cup team may be disappointed, with midfielder Joe Cole cautioning that winning the tournament could require dull displays.
Cole believes the key to capturing the country's first world title since 1966 could be by stifling opponents — emulating the tactics Jose Mourinho, his former coach at Chelsea, employed as Inter Milan won the Champions League last month.
"It might not be pretty," Cole warned ahead of Saturday's World Cup opener against the United States.
The performances leading up to the tournament provided little evidence of England being an attacking force in South Africa.
Mexico was beaten 3-1, but England relied on two own goals to overcome Japan 2-1 and then put on a slack display against South African side the Platinum Stars that provoked the wrath of coach Fabio Capello despite a 3-0 win.
"These games are always difficult — before the last World Cup we beat Jamaica and Hungary and we were brilliant," Cole said. "So maybe it is not a bad thing that we are not firing on all cylinders. We are not going into the World Cup thinking we are going to steamroller everyone.
"The way that we set up to play is try to play the pressing games. You have to think that, just because the other team has the ball, it doesn't mean that they are doing anything."
And following Mourinho's game plan should serve England well at the World Cup, Cole said.
"Look at Inter Milan, they won the Champions League, but I don't think they had the ball more than any team from the quarterfinals onwards," he said. "Even Bayern Munich had 60 percent of the ball (in the final), but you look at the game and Inter Milan were comfortable.
"There was no danger from Bayern at all apart from Arjen Robben every now and then. So you don't have to have the ball to control the pace of the game."
So while Cole is in awe of some of Spain's soccer — quipping "you are trying to scare me" as reporters showed him the highlights of Tuesday's 6-0 warm-up win over Poland on a laptop — the 28-year-old midfielder doesn't see it always providing the route to glory.
"That team there is the most talented in the tournament, but as we all know it is not always the most talented team that wins," Cole said. "Spain are a different class ... but there are a lot of other factors — discipline, strength of character, a little bit of luck. Everything will all come into play at this World Cup."
Including the colder weather, with evening kickoffs in South Africa that are more amenable to the England players' performance.
"What has probably let us down in past tournaments is the weather — playing in the sun," Cole said. "We are playing night games and it will be quite chilly and that will be a massive difference for us. I think you'll see an England that is going to play more of the pace of the Premier League because we won't be in the sun."
-- Rob Harris
Joe Cole: Wanted by England, but not Chelsea
RUSTENBURG, South Africa (AP) — One of England's star performers in Germany four years ago, Joe Cole was resigned to not even making this World Cup as he played a bit-part role for Chelsea last season.
The summer holiday wasn't quite booked, but the 28-year-old Cole believed he was running out of time to impress England coach Fabio Capello, who had publicly doubted his enduring quality.
Returning from an eight-month layoff with a knee injury in September only heralded a new struggle. Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti, who arrived at the start of the season, was unwilling to give the midfielder a lengthy run in the side as he tried to regain form and confidence.
Luckily for Cole's England prospects at least, he did force his way off the bench in the final weeks of the domestic season to help Chelsea's charge to a domestic double.
Flashes of brilliance, like a deft goal at Manchester United in April that took Chelsea top, were enough to clinch his World Cup spot — despite not featuring for England for 20 months until last month's friendly against Japan.
But the former West Ham player didn't do enough to secure his Chelsea future. After seven years and with his contract expiring at the end of the month, Chelsea announced Wednesday that Cole is surplus to requirements and free to leave.
Within minutes of the official announcement, Cole attended a pre-planned media briefing at England's South African base and tried to avoid hitting back at Chelsea in any depth.
"I didn't play as many games as I would have liked last year (at Chelsea)," Cole said. "I was more of an impact player, for whatever reason, rightly or wrongly."
"It's a story to be told another day."
Cole doesn't want to be sidetracked by searching for a new club while in South Africa, despite Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp chasing his signature.
"I don't want to be told what is happening until after the World Cup," Cole said. "I am fully focussed on England and what I have got to do out here.
"The manager doesn't want any distractions — and rightly so. You only get a few chances in your career to win a World Cup. It is not on my mind."
Cole's guile and flexibility earned him a place in a squad, with Capello able to deploy his pace down the left flank or slot him behind striker Wayne Rooney.
"My best position is anywhere in the center of the park and I enjoyed it," Cole said. "I enjoy playing with Wayne. He is a great player. It worked well for the time we were together (against Japan). Different players bring different things to the fold and it gives the manager options."
Four years ago, Cole was one of the few England players to perform well in Germany before the team crashed out in the quarterfinals.
"I have always acquitted myself well for England," Cole said. "My form for England has always stood up against anybody in my position in the country. I am proud of that. I enjoy the pace of international football. It suits my game.
"If I get the chance I will take it. I will be very proud to pull on that shirt in another World Cup for England."
Should he feature against the United States in Saturday's Group C opener, it will mean Cole has appeared at three World Cups.
"I went to the first one as a young lad and I wasn't expected to play," Cole said. "The second I played a major part. This one I have come late into the squad. It is different. I like the feel of the place. You are eager to get the first game under way. Then you start rolling."
And the one advantage from playing so little last season is that Cole is fresh.
-- Rob Harris
Defensive mistakes worry Brazil ahead of World Cup
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Defensive mistakes in Brazil's final World Cup warmups are making some players worried.
Brazil beat Zimbabwe 3-0 and thrashed Tanzania 5-1 in its last matches before the opener against North Korea next Tuesday, but the lowly nations exposed some defensive problems that have put some players on alert.
"We made too many mistakes that are not normal for us," Brazilian veteran midfielder Gilberto Silva said. "We need to start being more careful."
The mistakes gained increased significance given the quality of the opponents Brazil picked for the warmups in Africa — Zimbabwe is ranked 110th by FIFA, while Tanzania is 108th. Players acknowledge none can pose challenges similar to what Brazil will face at the World Cup.
"We faltered in a few plays and that can't happen," goalkeeper Gomes said. "But we still have a week to go before the first match and Dunga can make the necessary adjustments."
In the match against Zimbabwe on June 2, Brazil had a slow start and was threatened by the African nation in several occasions in Harare. Brazil could've been trailing by two goals in the first half, but it eventually picked up the pace and imposed its game for a comfortable victory.
Against Tanzania on Monday in Dar es Salaam, Brazil played better but still wasn't 100 percent at defense against the lowly African team. With many passing mistakes at the back, Brazil struggled to move the ball forward.
Tanzania's goal came with a header from a late corner kick, marking the first time Brazil allowed a goal in five matches, since a 2-1 loss to Bolivia last October in a World Cup qualifier in the high altitude of La Paz.
"We can't make so many mistakes as we did in this match," Gilberto Silva said. "At times we lacked focus and relaxed a bit. From now on, we can't make these same mistakes."
One of the players who had an off day against Tanzania was midfielder Felipe Melo, who plays alongside Gilberto Silva in front of Brazil's defense.
"He didn't play as well as he is used to," Gilberto Silva said. "But he has a strong personality and will be able to overcome this and play as well as he can in the World Cup."
Brazil began both matches with most of the regular starters, but Dunga made several changes to rest some players and try some alternatives in the lineup. At one point he tried reserve right back Daniel Alves in the midfield alongside Kaka in a more offensive scheme.
Brazil had the day off after the Tanzania match and players only underwent a light training session at the team's hotel on Wednesday. The squad was expected to return to a normal practice schedule on Thursday.
Starting goalkeeper Julio Cesar sustained a back injury in the first half of the Zimbabwe match, forcing him to miss the Tanzania warmup as well. He was expected to be fit for the opener.
"Julio Cesar should be ready to play against North Korea," said Gomes, who was in goal against the Tanzanians.
Gomes and Julio Cesar were two of the eight Brazilian players who were required to undergo doping exams carried out by FIFA on Wednesday, along with Maicon, Gilberto, Kleberson, Elano, Juan and Luis Fabiano.
After facing North Korea, the Brazilians will play against the Ivory Coast and then Portugal in Group G.
Brazil is seeking its sixth world title. It lost to France in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
-- Tales Azzoni
Winning or losing, Dunga always on the defensive
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — There are times that "Grumpy" would be more appropriate than "Dopey" for Brazil coach Dunga.
Dunga was nicknamed after the dwarf in "Snow White" because his uncle didn't think he would grow very tall. But his moody tenure as Brazil's coach sometimes makes him more like the less-friendly Disney character.
Dunga arrived at the World Cup on the defensive, bristling at questions thrown at him by the hundreds of journalists in Brazil's training camp in South Africa.
"There are 300 journalists here hoping that we lose just so they can say later that they were right," Dunga said in one of his first press conferences in South Africa.
A former defensive midfielder known for his toughness on and off the field, Dunga was heavily criticized by fans and local media when he was appointed to lead Brazil after the 2006 World Cup despite never coaching at any level before. Many said Dunga was just a temporary choice until a better coach could be signed.
The criticism continued even after victories, and the straightforward Dunga never tried to hide that he was not happy with it.
"Don't think I have anything against journalists," he said. "Anyone can ask whatever they want, but they have to be prepared because I have the right to say whatever I want too. It's my temper, for good or for bad. I will say what I think."
Many were concerned at Dunga's defensive emphasis, even as the team achieved significant results, including the 2007 Copa America and the 2009 Confederations Cup titles.
Those achievements gained won over many supporters in Brazil, but there were still some who continued to doubt him, especially after he omitted from his World Cup squad stars such as Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Adriano.
"I have to deal with that, even when we win," Dunga said. "If it isn't about the players I pick, it's because I don't know how to speak Portuguese correctly. And if it isn't that, then it's about my clothing or something else. Sometimes they even attack my family to see if they can get to me, but it's going to be hard."
Dunga insists he is not concerned with his image in Brazil.
"I can't worry about what people are talking about," Dunga said. "I have to focus on my work. Everything I'm doing it is for the good of the national team. What matters is if I can make a decision and be able to sleep with it at night."
Dunga's image problems emerged in his playing days.
His name has been always associated with the lackluster Brazilian team that fell to Argentina in the round of 16 of the 1990 World Cup in Italy — a period which became negatively known as the "Dunga Era."
And even after Dunga captained Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title in the United States, many complained that that team was defensive and boring. Dunga and the team led by coach Carlos Alberto Parreira were constantly criticized, and when Dunga lifted the trophy, he let out an expletive that marked his career as much as his performances on the field.
"What Dunga has achieved with the national team cannot be questioned," veteran Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva said Wednesday. "We have his trust and we are behind him."
Dunga played in three World Cups with Brazil and helped the team win the 1989 and 1997 Copa Americas, as well as the 1997 Confederations Cup. He played for Brazilian club Internacional and later with Fiorentina and Stuttgart.
Dunga's personification of hard work was one of the main reasons the Brazilian football confederation hired him instead of other already established coaches.
The 46-year-old Dunga knows, however, that no matter what he has achieved with Brazil so far, a failure at the World Cup will be blamed upon him.
"We understand that the only thing that counts now is the World Cup," Dunga said.
-- Tales Azzoni
Pato follows Brazil around South Africa as a fan
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Alexandre Pato is following Brazil around South Africa as a fan after failing to make his country's World Cup squad.
Pato might have been expected to seek the comfort of family and friends at home after he was surprisingly left out by coach Dunga, along with his AC Milan teammate Ronaldinho.
The 20-year-old striker instead decided to make the trip to Africa anyway to support his countrymen and friends in their attempt to win a record sixth World Cup title.
Pato was part of the squad that won last year's Confederations Cup event in South Africa with a 3-2 final win over the United States but played just 28 minutes in the World Cup warmup event.
Still, it was enough for him to learn from local fans how best to support the team.
"For sure, I'm going to matches with my vuvuzela and I'm going to watch Brazil play and be world champion," Pato said.
Confederations Cup matches notable for the deafening noise of fans blowing on the plastic vuvuzela trumpets. Pato already has his to blow at Group G games against Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea.
"I'm sure Brazil is not going to lose," Pato said. "I'm here with my vuvuzela for Brazil and I'm sure Brazil is going to the final and is going to win it.
"It's almost the same team that played at the Confederations Cup and they know what they have to do to win."
Pato will get a reminder of the vuvuzela onslaught when he takes his seat at Friday's opening match between South Africa and Mexico at Johannesburg's Soccer City.
Despite his reputation and status as a two-time FIFA world player of the year, Ronaldinho's exclusion was not a total surprise following widespread reports that Dunga was unhappy at his fluctuating weight and attitude.
Pato was arguably more unlucky to miss out despite his relative inexperience.
But the striker is already putting his disappointment at missing out on selection in perspective.
He spent Wednesday playing with children from the Soweto township at a new football training center built by Nike, and said his eyes were opened to experiences far harder than missing out on a handful of matches.
"It's hard to know that kids here have to live with poverty and AIDS," Pato said. "We players have a chance to play and win for the national team. I am here as a fan to back the national team and I am happy to be here learning from kids."
Pato at least knows that, at 20, he could have another three World Cup tournaments ahead of him. And the 2014 edition will be held in Brazil.
"I'm sure that if I keep working hard with my club, I will be in the squad for 2014 and I'll see the fans in Brazil," Pato said.
-- Stuart Condie
Lippi lashes out at Italy's critics
IRENE, South Africa (AP) — Marcello Lippi is getting tired of hearing that Italy's players are too old to win the World Cup again. And he doesn't appreciate the rampant skepticism over his squad — even back home.
Lippi lashed out at Italy's critics at his first chance upon landing in South Africa on Wednesday, pleading to at least give the team a chance to prove itself.
"Yes, we have old players, but with age comes charisma and the experience of playing in big games. I think we have the right mix of young and old players," Lippi said. "We have nine players from 2006 — that's less than 50 percent. I've never seen any team that wins the World Cup show up four years later with 23 new players.
While Lippi has kept the likes of 36-year-old Fabio Cannavaro and 33-year-olds Gianluca Zambrotta and Mauro Camoranesi, he has also brought along three 23-year-old defenders — Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci and Domenico Criscito.
The average age of the squad is 28 years, 9 months.
Still, the new players have not proved themselves yet and most analysts are picking Brazil, Spain, Argentina and England as the favorites, with the defending champion hardly ever mentioned.
Criticizing the national team has become a sort of national sport in Italy over the past few weeks.
"Whenever a World Cup comes around everyone wants to get in their say. Last time everyone joined in as we moved along, but this time we're not going to allow anyone to jump on the bandwagon," Lippi said.
With standout midfielder Andrea Pirlo likely to miss the entire group phase due to a left calf injury, Italy is without its most talented player.
"Single players don't win World Cups. Let's be clear. There are no longer any superstars in Italy, and it's not like anyone I left home would alter the skill aspect," added Lippi, who was criticized for not even considering talented but temperamental forwards Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli.
Lippi recalled that his team was very nervous before the 2006 opener with Ghana and didn't feel truly confident until its memorable extra-time win over Germany in the semifinals.
"If we would have had to play that game at the start it would have been much tougher," he said. "We may not be perfect in the first game here, but hopefully we'll build ourselves into a solid squad as we go along. This is a team I hope goes very far — all the way."
The 62-year-old coach even went so far as to mention that the squad could contain a "new" Paolo Rossi — the striker who scored six goals in the last three games at the 1982 World Cup.
Giampaolo Pazzini, an unsung forward who scored 19 goals for Sampdoria this season, has already been compared to Rossi.
"Let's see," Lippi said. "Who knows, maybe we'll discover someone here who can really carry us on their shoulders."
-- Andrew Dampf
Italy arrives at World Cup in disarray
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Considering it is the World Cup holder, Italy arrived in South Africa on Wednesday in relative disarray.
Two key midfielders are injured, the reserves have outperformed the starters in two less-than-convincing friendlies recently and coach Marcello Lippi can't seem to settle on a formation, switching at will during the warmups against Mexico and Switzerland.
In addition, the likes of 36-year-old captain Fabio Cannavaro and 33-year-old Gianluca Zambrotta are still trying to regain their breaths after training for more than two weeks at 2,035 meters (6,670 feet) in the Italian Alps.
"I knew there would be difficulties, but I also knew that gradually we would overcome them," Lippi said of the high altitude training in Sestriere. "The goal was to put enough gas in our motors to go as far as possible. Just watch: we'll be ready."
However, standout midfielder Andrea Pirlo could miss the entire group phase with a left calf muscle injury, and attacking midfielder Mauro Camoranesi still needs another week to recover from a left knee problem.
The Azzurri were soundly beaten by Mexico 2-1 last week — getting only a late consolation goal from substitute Salvatore Bocchetti — and Lippi used his reserves in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Saturday.
Still, Italy can console itself with a relatively easy group. The Azzurri open against Paraguay on Monday in Cape Town, face New Zealand on June 20 and round out Group F play against Slovakia on June 24.
Pirlo picked up his injury against Mexico and Lippi brought along Cagliari midfielder Andrea Cossu to South Africa just in case the AC Milan standout's injury takes a turn for the worse.
Without Camoranesi, Lippi's first choice on the right flank was Vincenzo Iaquinta, but Iaquinta has openly expressed that he is uncomfortable on the wing, while Fabio Quagliarella — who scored against Switzerland — could take the starting spot.
In midfield, Gennaro Gattuso, Angelo Palombo and Riccardo Montolivo each performed better against Switzerland than Daniele De Rossi and Claudio Marchisio did versus Mexico, creating more questions for Lippi, who has switched at random from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 to the traditional 4-4-2.
"The formations don't mean much and all three of those are pretty similar," Lippi said. "I'll choose game by game. I want a squad capable of variation."
Variation was the key to Francesca Schiavone's surprise French Open victory on Saturday — the first ever Grand Slam tennis win for an Italian woman — and Lippi wants his team to take Schiavone as an example.
"I watched the final in my hotel room in Geneva and I couldn't pull myself away from the TV from the first point until the triumph," Lippi said.
"She showed desire, passion, heart and class and I was really enthused by it. And I also liked what she had to say afterward — that she had limitless energy, and that she exceeded even her own limits. From now on, she's going to be the image of our World Cup."
-- Andrew Dampf
Klose peaking at right time, says Loew
ERASMIA, South Africa (AP) — Miroslav Klose celebrated his 32nd birthday on Wednesday but the Germany striker has to wait to see if he will receive the gift he's seeking of a starting spot in the team's World Cup opener against Australia.
Klose, the leading scorer at the 2006 World Cup with five goals, is coming off a difficult season at Bayern Munich. He spent a lot of it on the bench as Bayern won the domestic double and finished runner-up in the Champions League.
Loew has been backing Klose despite the player scoring only three Bundesliga goals, but declined to reveal if he will be in the team for Sunday's game in Durban.
"We don't give such birthday presents," Loew said. "But yesterday I saw for the first time that he feels a lot better physically. He's been very agile in training. He's found his physical well-being and he feels a lot a better."
Germany is widely expected to play with one striker and Klose has been in the starting formation in all three World Cup warm-up matches. But he is a pale shadow of the player from 2006 who also scored five goals at the 2002 World Cup.
"Maybe I underestimated the situation, I will have to work more," Klose said after being substituted at halftime of Germany's 3-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina last week.
The players then received three days off after that match, and Klose used the time to practice every day on his own.
"It wasn't a simple season for Klose. He had to work more and harder and it was calculated that he would not be fresh in the warm-up games," Loew said. "But now I see that he is getting better all the time. He could release the hand brake this week."
Klose is Germany's most experienced player, with 48 goals in 96 internationals. He helped to secure Germany's trip to the World Cup by scoring in the 1-0 victory at Russia in the decisive qualifier.
Klose's teammates have stood behind him during the tough times.
"He has a lot of World Cup experience, he can evaluate himself the best," defender Per Mertesacker said. 'We all have confidence in him. We are all behind him."
Klose's Bayern teammate, Mario Gomez, has also stagnated at the club after arriving from Stuttgart. He spent most of the second half of the season sitting next to Klose on the bench.
The Brazil-born Cacau has been making his case by scoring regularly for Stuttgart and Germany in the buildup to the World Cup.
-- Nesha Starcevic
Beckenbauer says Germany can reach WCup semifinals
ERASMIA, South Africa (AP) — Franz Beckenbauer believes Germany's young team can reach the World Cup semifinals.
The absence of injured captain Michael Ballack does not have to be a disadvantage, Beckenbauer said, adding that the star-free squad is very balanced.
"I am positive, the Germans are among the favorites," Beckenbauer said after visiting the team's base outside Pretoria on Wednesday. "With a bit of luck I expect them in the semifinals."
Beckenbauer won the World Cup as captain and player in 1974 and was the coach of the German team when it won the last of its three world titles in 1990.
The Germans, who were runners-up in 2002 and semifinalists four years ago at home, have arrived with their second youngest World Cup team ever, with the average age just under 25. Ballack and four other players have been ruled out with injuries.
"Ballack was the leader, captain, the head of the team and Germany will be missing him. But the team is very balanced and it doesn't have to be a disadvantage. If they go on as they have so far, they don't need a big star," Beckenbauer said.
Beckenbauer said he was encouraged by Germany's last two tuneup games, a 3-0 win in Hungary and a 3-1 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"They showed a lot of joy on the field, everybody wanted the ball," he said.
Traditionally a strong tournament team, Germany's potential this time is somewhat of a mystery because of its inexperience.
Coach Joachim Loew said the team was well prepared and looking forward to tackle Australia in its Group D opener on Sunday in Durban.
"We are full of enthusiasm and anticipation. We've done everything that we could and we have a good feeling," Loew said.
"After the injury setbacks, we put them behind us and looked ahead. I can see a lot of enthusiasm in training and that the team has been together for a while.
"We can play at high pace, we have more movement. Maybe the players have not much experience but they are willing to learn."
But Loew said it was hard to predict how the young players will respond to pressure.
"Experienced players can make mistakes too. You cannot expect anyone to go through the tournament without making a mistake.
"We want to be able to outplay opponents. We'll go in with the confidence that we can win and we will not wait for something to happen, we will try to create," Loew said.
The team includes six players who won the European under-21 title last year and Loew said their peak may still be two or three years away.
"They are very capable of developing. I will be relaxed during the tournament because I know we did everything that could have been done to prepare well," Loew said.
-- Nesha Starcevic
Ronaldo needs to end Portugal goal drought at WCup
MAGALIESBURG, South Africa (AP) — The World Cup provides a global showcase for football's greatest forwards, and if Cristiano Ronaldo wants to ever reach the same status as the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona he must do something he hasn't done for 16 months — score a goal for Portugal.
The tournament in South Africa needs stars like Ronaldo and Argentina's Lionel Messi to produce their skills on the sport's biggest stage, to thrill the billions of spectators watching games on television worldwide.
That means FIFA's 2008 world player of the year will have to break a goal drought stretching back to a friendly game in February 2009 when he scored from the penalty spot against Finland.
In competitive matches, he has not found the net for Portugal since the 2008 European Championship.
"It's not a problem," the Real Madrid player said before the tournament. "I'm saving myself for the World Cup."
The time to deliver on that promise has come as Portugal readies for its June 15 opener against Ivory Coast.
Ronaldo has the ability to set alight a game, which is why Real Madrid paid Manchester United 80 million pounds ($118 million) for him a year ago.
The Portuguese forward's electrifying bursts of pace, his spellbinding footwork and blistering right-foot shots — which Manchester United fans nicknamed "Ronny rockets" — have brought crowds to their feet at Old Trafford and the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Injuries, though, have unsettled Ronaldo's international career. He played in just seven of Portugal's 12 World Cup qualifying matches and in some games was still recovering from injury.
In 73 appearances since his 2003 debut, Ronaldo has scored 22 goals.
Still, Portuguese fans grumble that his inability to reproduce his club form at international level is partly to blame for Portugal's recent below-par performances, including a 0-0 draw against tiny Cape Verde last month.
In his last two seasons, at United and Madrid, he has scored more than 70 goals.
With winger Nani, Ronaldo's former teammate at Manchester United, ruled out of the World Cup due to a bruised collarbone, Portugal may need Ronaldo more than ever.
Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz has tried to ease the tension surrounding Ronaldo's goalscoring difficulties. When asked about it last week he replied, in English, "Leave them kids alone."
"The more you leave the players in peace the more they'll score," he added.
While he waves away talk of a crisis, Ronaldo's recent comments and performances have betrayed the nagging pressure.
In a 3-1 win against Cameroon in an exhibition match 10 days ago, Ronaldo time and again went for goal only to see the goalkeeper produce a superb reflex save or stick out a foot to deny him, and the anguish showed on his face.
When reporters tried to ask him questions after the match he walked away saying, with a gesture towards his teammates, "Talk to them, they're the heroes."
Ronaldo was left off Portugal's starting lineup for Tuesday's warmup game against Mozambique in Johannesburg as Queiroz handed Danny a rare start. Ronaldo came on for the last 30 minutes and, after the goalkeeper failed to hold his thundering shot with 10 minutes to go, Hugo Almeida tapped in the ball for the final 3-0 score.
Some standout performances from Ronaldo could lend precious momentum to Portugal's ambitions in South Africa where it faces a hard task advancing from Group G, which also includes Brazil and North Korea.
Portugal is ranked third in the world by FIFA and reached the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. But for all its star players' skills it still has no silverware.
-- Barry Hatton
Unpredictability may be NKorea's secret weapon
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A week after arriving for the World Cup, the North Korean team remains largely hidden from public view, sequestered behind the tightly guarded gates of a remote hotel in northern Johannesburg that seems to rise like a fortress from the South African veld.
No chance of a casual South African braai — barbecue — with fellow hotel guests: All meals, prepared by a cook flown in from Pyongyang, are closed to outsiders. And no chance for the players to stray from the group.
No team at the tournament is more of a mystery than North Korea, one of the world's most isolated countries.
They're the lowest ranked of the qualifiers and are in the toughest group.
But North Korea has a history of surprising top teams at the World Cup: In 1966, the last time it qualified, the squad from the reclusive communist state produced a stunning upset win over Italy to secure a quarterfinal spot.
Nearly as unknown as they were 44 years ago, the North Koreans are banking on what may be their greatest asset as they prepare to face Brazil in their opening match: their unpredictability.
Most training sessions at Maphulong Stadium in the township of Tembisa have been closed, and coach Kim Jong Hun made only Japanese-born star Jong Tae Se available Wednesday for a news conference required by FIFA, football's governing body.
A cloud of controversy surrounding the North Koreans may give Kim an excuse to keep the team from prying journalists' eyes. And he may well want to keep the players under wraps and use the relative anonymity to the team's tactical advantage.
Only three play overseas and the team has made few international appearances in recent years, giving opponents little chance to study strengths and weaknesses.
In a sport where fans follow their favorite players' every move, the North Koreans' names are so unfamiliar that almost no one noticed that coach Kim listed a top striker as a goalkeeper when he submitted his final World Cup squad.
Greece got a taste of North Korea's surprise tactics in a friendly late last month in Austria. After floundering at the start, North Korea took control of the game, eventually equalizing to hold Greece to an unexpected 2-2 draw.
The North Koreans may have been the darlings in '66, the underdogs from a little-known country who delighted their English hosts by staging feisty upsets to become the first Asian team to make the World cup quarterfinals. Four decades later, however, the world is well aware of North Korea, its nuclear ambitions and the accusations that Pyongyang sank a South Korean warship in March — a matter taken to the U.N. Security Council last week amid a firestorm of threatening rhetoric from both Koreas.
Behind the wall of silence, the Chollima squad — as they are called back home after a winged horse prized in North Korean mythology — is mentally girding itself for the tournament, said Jong, the charismatic 26-year-old striker who is one of two Japanese-born players in the squad and has emerged as the team's star player and de facto spokesman.
Experts and oddmakers say it would take a miracle for North Korea to advance from Group G — which includes Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast — to the round of 16.
That doesn't phase Jong, nicknamed "the People's Rooney" by South Korean media, who says the North Koreans will make up for what they lack in experience with passion, will and determination when they face Brazil on Tuesday at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
"Our advantage is that we have first-world mentality. We have confidence in our concentration and speed," he told broadcaster APTN on Wednesday. "If we believe in our strength and unite as one, and believe in ourselves, we could surely achieve victory."
He vowed to "surprise" the world again.
The team prides itself on its unity, and with most of the squad playing in the domestic competition, they've had plenty of time to finesse their teamwork.
"Morale is very high and we're ready to fight," Coach Kim said, according to footage aired on North Korean state television.
Goalkeeper Ri Myong Guk is just as confident.
"Like the football players of Chollima Korea in 1966, I will also display the might of North Korea's 'army first' policy in the World Cup," Ri told APTN.
North Korea, its economy in shambles and its circle of friends diminishing due to its nuclear defiance, has few avenues for international glory.
The 23 men training in Tembisa are their country's most visible ambassadors, among the few North Koreans allowed to travel overseas.
At home, they're already heroes, bestowed with medals and merit citations and honored on postage stamps unveiled last week to commemorate the team's success in qualifying for the World Cup.
With that honor comes pressure. Moon Ki-nam, a former national-level North Korea coach who defected to South Korea in 2004, said players are handsomely rewarded with coveted apartments if they win internationally but are punished, some sent to coal mines, if they lose.
Even some of the feted players from the 1966 team were said to have been sent to one of North Korea's infamous labor camps for squandering a promising 3-0 lead to lose to a Eusebio-led Portugal in the quarterfinals.
And with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il personally giving the current team guidance, according to state media, success or failure is a state matter of the highest order.
"We will achieve a good success in this World Cup, therefore giving pleasure to our great General (Kim Jong Il) and proving ourselves worthy of the expectations of the Korean people," the coach told APTN as the team departed Pyongyang last month to the cheers and applause of well-wishers.
Kim has been a keen football fan for decades. According to Moon, the ex-coach-turned-defector, Kim used the surprise success of the 1966 team to his political advantage as he prepared to take over leadership of North Korea from his father, Kim Il Sung.
It may take another shock upset for North Korea to match the feats of the 1966 team, but at least one former football star doesn't think it will take a miracle.
Pak Doo Ik, who scored the magic goal that vaulted the North Korean team past Italy, says the players are skilled, organized and above all, confident.
"Seeing the soccer players training and competing in the qualifiers, they surely can make it," he told APTN. "Playing the game with such confidence, we can surely make it."
-- Jean H. Lee
Maradona ready to start 3 strikers
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Diego Maradona seems to have settled on starting strikers Carlos Tevez, Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain for the team's World Cup opener against Nigeria on Saturday.
Most reporters were barred from watching Wednesday's two practice matches. Team officials said Higuain and Javier Mascherano scored in a 2-0 victory against Argentina's backups. In another match, the second-stringers defeated a youth team 1-0, with Sergio Aguero scoring.
Argentina is the favorite to win Group B, which also includes Greece and South Korea.
Maradona is widely expected to start the following team: Sergio Romero in goal behind defenders Gabriel Heinze, Martin Demichelis and Walter Samuel. The midfield will be Jonas Gutierrez, Angel Di Maria, Mascherano and Juan Sebastian Veron. They will be joined by the three strikers.
Heinze said it's a united Argentina with none of the confusion and bickering that existed during qualifying, when the mercurial Maradona used 107 players trying to find a starting 11.
"We're all really good without any problems and fired up to get on the field," said Heinze. "We've been practicing at a very good level, and you'll see it on Saturday."
Heinze cautioned against overconfidence while facing a quick Nigerian team.
"Nigeria puts on lots of pressure, it's aggressive with players who have pace," he said. "We know many of them from playing them in European clubs."
The two-time World Cup champions overwhelmed Canada 5-0 in the last friendly, a sendoff on May 24 in Buenos Aires. After that victory, Maradona promised to run naked around the famed Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires if Argentina wins its third World Cup title.
-- Vicente L. Panetta
No joke now: Forlan's goals could inspire Uruguay
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Diego Forlan was a punchline at Manchester United eight years ago, a striker so inept at finding the net he jokingly was called "Forlorn."
Then, his career kick-started following a stunning volley that helped Uruguay tie Senegal 3-3 and almost qualify for the second round of the 2002 World Cup. After leaving the Premier League for Spain's La Liga, Forlan developed into one of Europe's most feared forwards.
Now 31 and a Europa League winner with Atletico Madrid, Forlan has the chance to shine when Uruguay returns to the biggest stage against France on Friday.
And more goals will erase any memory of the Manchester United player that once went eight months without scoring.
"I have the opportunity to play in the World Cup," Forlan said recently. "As a player, as a person and as a child, I always dreamed about it, and now I have the opportunity. So there is nothing to worry about."
He should also have no concerns about his form.
Few players have scored as consistently over the past six years as Forlan, who averaged 20 goals a season with Villareal from 2004-2007 and with Atletico since. He's twice won the Golden Boot as Europe's top scorer.
Two seasons ago, Forlan topped the Spanish league with 32 goals in 33 matches, with a highlight reel that showcased the blond-haired striker's range of talents: wicked shots from distance with his right and left foot, explosive dribbles and perfectly timed runs behind the defense.
His league total dropped to 18 in 2009-10, but he scored 10 more in other club competitions, including both goals in Atletico's 2-1 Europa Cup triumph over Fulham.
Asked if he was burnt out after a 55-match season, Forlan brushed aside the question.
"We are all in the same position," he said.
Part of the reason for Forlan's great success at Atletico has been his close partnership with Argentina playmaker Sergio Aguero. With Uruguay, he could be part of an equally dangerous tandem with Luis Suarez, who resembles Aguero with his slight stature, magnificent control and lethal finishing ability.
In qualifying for the World Cup, Forlan led Uruguay with seven goals. Suarez, the 23-year-old Ajax player, led the team with five assists.
"The team has improved," said Forlan, who scored in Uruguay's 3-1 friendly win over Switzerland in March and a 4-1 triumph over Israel last month.
Uruguay, a two-time world champion (1930 and 1950), hasn't advanced past the round of 16 at the World Cup since reaching the semifinals in 1970. It squares off Friday night in Cape Town against France, the runner-up in 2006, but a team that has struggled recently.
Mexico and host South Africa are also in Group A.
Forlan played down France's poor form, which included a stunning 1-0 loss to China.
"I look at the friendly games just to analyze how they were playing," he said. "I do not keep in mind the results. It was a friendly match and the result doesn't count. The World Cup is another competition and they will not play the same."
-- Bradley S. Klapper
Serbia given permission to switch training ground
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Serbia has been given permission by FIFA to switch training grounds after players complained the pitch could cause injuries.
Defender Aleksandar Kolarov told a press briefing Wednesday that the pitch at the AW Muller Stadium in Johannesburg was so uneven that the players were worried they were going to get hurt.
"I think that they put a surface down a few days ago but the pitch did not lay down nicely, so the surface was unstable so we were afraid of getting injuries," the Lazio player said.
Team spokesman Aleksandar Boskovic said there had been no injuries but that the management asked FIFA for immediate permission to move grounds, which was duly granted by football's governing body.
Boskovic said the Serbian authorities were promised that the pitch would be re-laid when they made their last inspection a few months ago, but that they weren't told that it would only be done just a few days before the tournament began.
After Wednesday's light open training session in front of a few hundred fans at the AW Muller Stadium, the pitch cut up badly.
On Thursday, the national team will move to the nearby rugby ground, Boskovic said.
Serbia, ranked 15th in the world after topping its qualifying group ahead of France, kicks off its World Cup campaign on Sunday in Pretoria against Ghana. In what is expected to be a tightly contested Group D, Serbia also faces Germany and Australia.
This is Serbia's first World Cup as an independent nation. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Serbia has played alongside Montenegro but that union ended after the last World Cup in Germany.
Serbia's strength is widely perceived to be in defense though the goalkeeping position, currently held by Vladimir Stojkovic, is thought to be a concern. Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic are key players.
Udinese's left-back Aleksandar Lukovic downplayed concerns that the defense was struggling, after the team let in three goals in a 4-3 victory over Cameroon in its last warmup before the World Cup.
"It was just a lack of concentration," he said.
Serbia is managed by Radomir Antic, who has previously led teams like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
-- Pan Pylas
Cameroon arrives in Durban for World Cup
DURBAN, South Africa (AP) — Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen shrugged off the team's poor performances in recent warmup matches and said Wednesday he sees a good chance for the Indomitable Lions to advance out of their group.
"It's a difficult group. The Netherlands is favorite, but after that there are possibilities," Le Guen told reporters at Durban's King Shaka airport after Cameroon arrived in South Africa just five days before kicking off its campaign against Japan in Bloemfontein.
Star striker Samuel Eto'o — who is likely the key to Cameroon's success — crossed himself as he walked down steps from a chartered plane. He did not speak to reporters inside the airport before boarding a bus to the team's hotel.
He had threatened to sit out the World Cup after being criticized by former Cameroon great Roger Milla, who said the striker has failed to reproduce his club form with the national team.
Eto'o will play against his Inter Milan teammate Wesley Sneijder when Cameroon plays the Netherlands on June 24 in Cape Town. The pair played together last month as Inter won the Champions League by beating Bayern Munich 2-0.
Cameroon opens its World Cup against Japan on June 14 and takes on Denmark in Pretoria on June 19.
Cameroon stunned the football world in 1990 by beating defending champion Argentina in its opening match and progressing to the quarterfinals, where it was knocked out by England in extra time.
However, it has failed to advance beyond the first round in its three World Cup appearances since 1990 and its warmup campaign has been a flop, with losses to Portugal and Serbia.
Eto'o was sent off in the first half of the 3-1 loss against Portugal and was suspended as Serbia came from behind to win 4-3.
But Le Guen defended his players, saying they are now fit and hungry to do well at the first World Cup in Africa.
"The preparations have given us a lot of hope so I am confident," he said. "This is a team with a lot of potential, we've worked hard to get here."
A group of Cameroon fans danced, waved flags and blew vuvuzela horns before the team's plane touched down and were confident their team would succeed.
"We didn't come here just to play well," supporter Jimmy Kabondgo said. "We came here to collect."
-- Mike Corder
