The United States of America will play host to fellow World Cup qualifiers Nigeria on Saturday in a key warm-up friendly for both.
The Americans beat Azerbaijan 2-0 on May 27 in San Francisco and edged Turkey 2-1 last Sunday in suburban New York.
Facing Nigeria in Florida will give the US squad a taste of the heat and humidity they will face in Brazil and a sample of the style they will see in their World Cup opener on June 16 against Ghana in Natal.
The Americans, who also have Germany and Portugal as World Cup opponents in Group G, know Ghana’s Black Stars all too well, they ousted the US team from the 2010 World Cup in the round of 16 and ended the US run in 2006 with a win in their group-stage match-up.
“We expect to advance to the knockout stage, so we’ve got to figure out a way to do that,” US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.
Getting past Ghana would be a good start and handling Nigeria would be a good omen for US prospects of doing that.
Nigeria, ranked 44th in the world, reached the last 16 in 1994 and 1998 in their first two World Cup appearances but were unable to escape the group stages in 2002 or 2010.
The Super Eagles will play in Group F alongside Argentina, Bosnia and Iran, whom the Nigerians meet in their World Cup opener on June 16 in Curitiba.
Nigeria will meet the Americans four days after a goalless draw with Greece in Pennsylvania.
A US squad blending newcomers hungry to show what they can achieve and veterans familiar with the pressure of the World Cup spotlight has meshed well in the past few weeks, US forward Clint Dempsey said.
“I think that’s what’s good about some of the young talent we have in the United States — they are not afraid of the big stage,” Dempsey said. “They accept the challenge.”
Starting spots remain up for grabs in defence and in the midfield of the US modified diamond formation while Jozy Altidore, who netted eight goals for the national side last year, still seeks his first of 2014 and could be at risk of losing a spot in the starting XI.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s performance against Greece on Tuesday night was not an impressive on says, Super Eagles’ coach, Stephen Keshi, he did not expect the friendly match to end goalless.
Speaking at the post match press conference in Philadelphia, USA, Keshi said the team played a strange game in the first half and only started to play to style 15 minutes to the end.
“It’s a game we should have won easily but here we are not playing to our style. We play possession football and press the opposition to give up but we didn’t do that till towards the end of the game, but its part of the learning curve and we will get there before the World Cup starts,” he said.
“Osaze is one of our versatile players, who can play anywhere in the forward line and he tried to give his all against Greece, but it was simply not his day, even when I shifted him to the right wing he kept pushing but as a footballer myself I knew he has to rest and give his best at the World Cup,” Keshi said.
He also praised the performance of Skipper Joseph Yobo, who played in the second half of the game, describing him as sharp and ready to go, adding: “Of course that’s why he is the leader of the team.”
He declared that the Eagles would play better expects a better against USA in another friendly, adding, “With Jurgen Klinsmann in charge we expect a little bit of German mentality, but we have a Nigerian antidote and we hope to see a better game.”
“Luckily, I have been picked to go and do battle for the nation in Brazil and I can assure you that I will give my all to the team. The talent is there, the stars are here and we work as a family. Yes I have been away but now that I am back I want to give my all and ensure that we do well in Brazil,” he said.
Fifa rankings:
Algeria have moved to the top of Fifa’s rankings for Africa, replacing fellow World Cup finalists Ivory Coast.
Ivory Coast have been the top ranked side on the continent since June 2011.
The Desert Foxes climbed three places globally to number 22 while the Ivorians dropped two spots to 23.
The move comes a week ahead of the 2014 World Cup and on the back of just one loss for Algeria in their last 13 matches.
The biggest movers on the continent were Guinea Bissau who leaped 50 places globally up to number 134.
There was also a big move for Madagascar from 189 to 144 overall.
The top two in the world remain Spain and Germany with World Cup hosts Brazil moving into third sport ahead of Portugal.
Africa’s top ten on June’s Fifa rankings – global ranking in brackets:
- Algeria (22)
- Ivory Coast (23)
- Egypt (36)
- Ghana (37)
- Cape Verde Islands (39)
- Nigeria (44)
- Tunisia (48)
- Guinea (52)
- Sierra Leone (54)
- Cameroon (56)
