Back from Europe and Major League Soccer games, US players gathered on Monday to prepare for this weekend’s World Cup qualifier in El Salvador.
Fifteen of the 22 players in the squad took the field for a brief workout. Six more were due in later on Monday, with FC Midtjylland’s Danny Califf expected to arrive from Denmark yesterday.
“Today, it was about regeneration,” US coach Bob Bradley said. “Of the 15 guys that are here today, I think 10 or 11 played 90 minutes on the weekend, and that’s obviously a great thing for us.”
“It’s important with the amount of time a lot of those guys have played lately to understand what our week needs to be like, and with some of the guys who haven’t played as much we push them a little harder,” he said.
Some players will need a few days to get over jet lag. Midfielder DaMarcus Beasley traveled from Scotland after setting up Kyle Lafferty for Rangers’ first goal in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Hearts.
“It was an hour trip to London and a nine-hour flight from London to Miami, so it was a long day, but it was well worth it coming to the sun in Miami,” Beasley said. “The sleeping pattern will take a good four days, at least for me, to fall into place.”
“These first couple days, I’ll be getting up at 5.30 or 6 in the morning just because I can’t sleep anymore,” he said.
The US team, seeking its sixth straight World Cup berth, opened the final round of the North and Central American region by defeating Mexico 2-0 on Feb. 11 at Columbus, Ohio. The Americans head to El Salvador tomorrow, then return on Sunday to prepare for a qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago on April 1 at Nashville, Tennessee.
Before last month’s match, US players had only two days to practice together.
“It’s nice to have the week before a game, especially with the double fixture dates like these,” said captain Carlos Bocanegra, who came in from Rennes in France. “The last one against Mexico, some guys got in real late Sunday night and then to have to play Wednesday, that was a difficult turnaround. These are a little bit more normal.”
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