The United States will play Ghana, Portugal and Germany in what appears to be the most difficult first-round group at next years World Cup, one that will take the Americans on a 9,000-mile trip around Brazil. Making its seventh straight appearance at soccers showcase, the U.S. was drawn Friday into Group G and opens on June 16 in Natal against Ghana, which eliminated the Americans at the 2006 and 2010 tournaments. The U.S. meets Portugal and 2008 FIFA Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo six days later in the Amazon rain forest city Manaus. The Americans have just three off days to recover before closing group play on June 26 in Recife against three-time champion Germany. "I think we have the quality, if we play our best ball, to get out of the group," U.S. captain Clint Dempsey said. "You cant think about, Am I the favourite? Am I the underdog? Whats it going to be like playing in the heat? Whats it going to be like with the travel? Those are factors that come into it, but at the end of the day both teams have to deal with it." Statistically, the U.S. group has the top average FIFA world ranking. "Its definitely one of the tougher groups, if not the toughest, but at the same time, this is what the World Cups all about. You go there to play against the best," American forward Jozy Altidore said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I think the boys will be excited, will be up for it." U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann played for Germanys 1990 World Cup championship team and coached his native country to third place in the 2006 tournament, commuting to Europe from his California home in Orange County. "Obviously its one of the most difficult groups in the whole draw, having Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo and then Ghana, who has a history with the United States. It couldnt get any more difficult or any bigger," he said at the draw in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. "Its a real challenge. And well take it. Well take it on, and hopefully were going to surprise some people there." As the draw pot the U.S. was in was emptied, the Americans and South Korea were the last remaining teams. While the Americans were drawn into the group with an average FIFA ranking of 11.25, South Korea wound up in Group H, creating a group with the poorest average at 28.25. "I think the teams mentality is that we can go and play with anybody," American defender Matt Besler said. "Now were going to have to prove it." "I kind of had in my stomach that we were going to get Germany," Klinsmann said. Germany beat the U.S. 2-0 in in 1998 World Cup opener in Paris -- with Klinsmann setting up the first goal and scoring the second -- the edged the Americans 1-0 on a controversial goal in the 2002 quarterfinal in South Korea. Die Mannschaft is coached by Klinsmanns former assistant, Joachim Loew. The Americans beat a second-tier German team 4-3 in a June exhibition at Washington. "With Jurgen Klinsmann, they have another mentality," Loew said. "I learned a lot from Jurgen, so this is special." Ranked 14th in the world, the U.S. has alternated quick exits with advancement since returning to soccers showcase in 1990. After the draw four years ago, one British paper used a headline "EASY" for England, Algeria, Slovenia and the Yanks, and The Sun called it the "best English group since the Beatles." The Americans wound up atop a group for the first time, and England advanced as the second-place nation. This time, second-ranked Germany and fifth-ranked Portugal are the favourites to advance to the second round. If the U.S. reaches the round of 16, it would face Belgium, Russia, Algeria or South Korea from Group H. "I guarantee you Jurgen knows more about Germany than Jogi Loew knows about the U.S," U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. The U.S. will feel pressure to open with a win against Ghana, ranked 24th. The Black Stars defeated the Americans 2-1 in the 2006 stage in Germany and by the same score in overtime in the round of 16 at the last World Cup in South Africa. "Theyre the team that beat us, kind of crushed our dreams of being in the World Cup, so I think were due a little bit of luck and were due a win against them," Dempsey said. At the 2002 tournament, the U.S. opened with a 3-2 upset of Portugal after taking a shocking three-goal lead in the first 36 minutes. The Americans will train in the U.S. from mid-May on and plan a series of exhibition games, which likely will include England as an opponent, before heading to Brazil. After having the shortest group-play travel in South Africa, the U.S. will have the longest in Brazil. The Americans will be based in Sao Paulo and face trips of 1,436 miles to Natal, 1,832 miles to Manaus and 1,321 miles to Recife. They also will play all three matches in the tropics, with the second and third matches in the afternoon. "Everybody is saying that this is the Group of Death and its such a hard challenge," former American captain John Harkes said. "I still think that the U.S. can rise to the occasion." In other groups, it is: Group A--Brazil, Cameroon, Croatia, Mexico; Group B--Australia, Chile, Netherlands, Spain; Group C--Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan; Group D--Costa Rica, England, Italy, Uruguay; Group E--Ecuador, France, Honduras, Switzerland; Group F--Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran, Nigeria. LeVeon Bell Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Mike Mitchell Jersey . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. http://www.steelersauthenticonline.com/Youth-Markus-Wheaton-Elite-Jersey/ . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. Rocky Bleier Steelers Jersey . LOUIS -- Rookie Tavon Austin has missed another day of practice, lessening the odds hell be ready for the St. Antonio Brown Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases.TORONTO – Standing comfortably by his dressing room stall, David Clarkson refuses to dodge questions about a goal drought thats lingered 10 games into the start of his Maple Leafs career. Hes willing answer queries for as long as needed. "Ask whatever you want," he says. And he understands the questions. But he also knows why he was brought into the fold in Toronto and why Dave Nonis and company chose to pony up seven years at $36.75 million. "I wasnt brought here to score 50 goals," Clarskon said earnestly after practice on Monday morning. "I was brought here for that full game that I bring, competing every night." Nonis made that point clear on the day he signed the Mimico native last July. The considerable size and weight of the deal aside – not to mention the 30 goals he scored two seasons ago – internal expectations for the 29-year-old did not hinge strictly on offence but instead on the range of tools and experience he could contribute to a group prospectively on the rise. And though he hasnt scored, with bad luck in a mostly defensive role primarily to blame, Clarkson has generally played that part with the Leafs, admittedly still adjusting to the new confines of life in Toronto. "He hasnt really let it affect anything about him," James van Riemsdyk said of Clarksons goal drought during a conversation with the Leaf Report. "I think hes come in and filled his role; [hes] played hard, finished checks, stuck up for his teammates and had a couple tough bounces as far as goal-scoring [goes]..." Predictably pesky and a willing physical combatant, Clarkson has actually been at his best as a puck-controlling, forechecking burden deep in the offensive zone – something the group at large has struggled with until spurts recently. Effective in that regard mostly alongside Mason Raymond, Clarkson leads the team in puck possession (CORSI,) despite starting many of his shifts in the defensive zone. "Thats something Ive always brought," said Clarkson, who has three assists, including a pair in the past two games. "In my career, Ive always been known to be a guy that down low is hard to play against, thats always in the blue paint, winning battles down low, finishing checks and driving the other team crazy." An admitted adjustment early on, Clarkson has been employed in a primarily defensive role so far, matched up against opposing top lines more often than not. Hes held his own in such duties – on the ice for just four goals against. Never was his effectiveness in this capacity more pronounced than his second game of the year. Playing alongside Raymond and Dave Bolland, Clarkson helped keep Sidney Crosby off the scoresheet for just the second time all season (to that point.) "The whole game, I was trying to hit Sid or trying to hit Malkin every shift because, if those guys are a little bit hesitant that you might do something, all of sudden maybe theyre looking over their shoulder and not as effective," he said. "I always try to play that same way." A Cup finalist with the Devils in 2012, Clarksons veteran credentials have also held sway among his more youthful teammates – all but a handful are younger than his 29 years. Nearly toppling the veteran Bruins in the playoffs last May, the LLeafs looked to Clarkson and Bolland for aid in the leadership department this past summer.dddddddddddd "Hes one of those guys you can look at to be a constant out there," James Reimer told the Leaf Report. "Hes just a good leader and hes a good pro. And a young team, thats what a lot of the time we need. You need those people that you can look up to." Reimer points the manner in which Clarkson has handled the early string of misfires offensively. "Hes not getting rattled, not breaking his stick, not swearing up and down," said the 25-year-old netminder. "He just comes to work every day." Several factors have worked to hold Clarkson in check offensively, luck and role most prominently among them. A sign of his unluckiness to date: the Leafs boast an even-strength shooting percentage of a paltry 2.6 per cent when Clarksons been on the ice this season, lowest on the team (with a minimum of 10 games played.) The several opportunities he has had, including a jam play opposite Jhonas Enroth on Saturday and a squeaker through the five-hole of Cory Schneider a week earlier, have fallen just shy of crossing the line. In addition to bad luck, Clarksons role has also changed from where it left off with the Devils. A first unit power-play contributor in Jersey, he is, at best, a second unit option in Toronto – stuck behind the skillful likes of van Riemsdyk, Raymond, Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul, Nazem Kadri, and Tyler Bozak when healthy. Clarkson, who totaled 14 power-play goals and 24 power-play points the past two seasons, has averaged 1:50 per game on the man advantage thus far, down from the nightly 3:33 he garnered with the Devils last season. Not helping his cause offensively either is the limited amount of even-strength shifts hes started in the offensive zone – slightly above 17 per cent, lowest on the team – nor the amount hes shot the puck to date; just two per game, down considerably from the past two seasons. "We think that David Clarkson has got a lot to offer to our hockey club and hes had his fair share of chances," said coach Randy Carlyle. "Hes a little bit snake-bitten, but if he continues to go to the net the way hes been going and we continue to drive that middle lane and get pucks directed around him hell score some goals for us. We believe that." With career-highs of 30 goals and 46 points, the production is unlikely to ever match the annual $5.2 million pay grade, but rightly or wrongly, thats not why the Leafs signed Clarkson in the first place. "If David Clarkson doesnt score 30 goals in a Leaf uniform, but provides all the other things that we know hes going to provide were pretty comfortable were a better team," Nonis said on July 5. Clarkson says the early drought may have bothered him as a younger player, what with the now daily barrage of questions and pressure to contribute offensively, but with age, experience and a family, he appears neither frustrated nor agitated. He knows his poor luck is bound to change, also understanding the manner in which he can affect the game otherwise. "Theres so much that he brings to this team," Reimer said. “When he starts scoring, honestly itll just be a bonus." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '
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