U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena talked with the U.S. media by teleconference from Leipzig after the World Cop 2006 draw:

Opening comments:

ôWeÆre excited to learn about our opponents for the World Cup, and now the business of preparing our team begins. Obviously, we are in a group with some outstanding teams, in fact all three of them. Czech Republic, is your No. 2 ranked team in the world, Italy is the seeded team in the group, and Ghana is coming off a terrific campaign in Africa and playing in their first World Cup. On the surface it looks like a very strong group, as was the group we played in 2002. We look forward to the challenges, and we will eagerly begin our preparations for the World Cup.ö

On the strengths and weaknesses of the USAÆs opponents:

ôFirst of all, be fair to me that I received the draw a couple hours ago and I havenÆt been researching, actively, the three teams. Starting with the Czech Republic: They have an outstanding goalkeeper in (Petr) Cech, who plays for Chelsea. If (Pavel) Nedved is playing, heÆs one of the top midfielders in the world. (Jan) Koller, who has been injured, is an outstanding striker. So those three players in themselves are outstanding players. As a matter of fact, I believe I had Nedved on my Player of the Year ballot in 2004. Italy, obviously, has a strong goalkeeper. (Gianluigi) Buffon is one of the best in the world. (Alessandro) Nesta is one of the best centerbacks in the world. (Francesco) Totti is an outstanding attacking player. And you know the Italian team, with the experience and the number of players seeing first-team football in Italy, they have a huge stable of players. TheyÆre going to be a team thatÆs going to be very difficult to play against. Ghana I donÆt know a whole lot about. I know Michael Essien is an outstanding midfielder for Chelsea. We will certainly dedicate the next couple of months to getting a little bit more familiar with these opponents.ö

On where the U.S. might have advantages:

ôAgain, I think you need to appreciate the fact that weÆve gotten this draw a couple of hours ago. I havenÆt spent a whole lot of time studying all of these teams. The most important thing between now and June 12 is that we have a healthy team, a good roster and are playing well in good form. Then, when we show up on June 12 weÆll present problems to our opponents as well as they will to us. However, I donÆt know what lies ahead for our teams in terms of the fitness of some players and everything else. We are simply going to concentrate on getting our team as strong as we possibly can so when we step on the field June 12 with the confidence that we can beat the Czech Republic. If we do that, there are a number of problems we can present to any team in our group.ö

On what was going through his mind as the draw was unfolding:

ôIÆm not disappointed. I expected us to be drawn into a difficult group. I really didnÆt want to play in BrazilÆs group, and probably not in ArgentinaÆs group and, in some ways, maybe not in GermanyÆs group. For the most part, those wishes were met. However, we did know that it was going to be difficult.ö

On the opening game being four days into the tournament:

ôThatÆs a plus because we need to travel the furthest û perhaps with the exception of Ghana – to get to Europe. We see two European opponents that are fairly local to Germany. We have a little bit of travel so we have a little bit more time to get settled in and help us in our final preparations.ö

On the order of the opponents:

ôIt doesnÆt matter. You play three teams in group play. You need to get enough points out of that group to advance. In 2002 many people thought that Poland was going to be possibly the easiest game in our group and thatÆs the one we lost in the third game. None of that really matters. And they thought Portugal was the toughest game. I donÆt know. You figure it out.ö

On whether he didnÆt want to be in Group E as he saw the makeup of some of the other groups, who seem easier on paper:

ôIÆm probably going to have to repeat this a number of times. All this stuff on paper doesnÆt mean anything because you play the game on the field and not on a piece of paper. If you really want to know, I did wish not to be drawn with Brazil. I think getting drawn with Germany is difficult. Obviously, Argentina is tough and so is England, so I canÆt complain. We were not a seeded team so that means you have to play one of the seeds, which is going to be a tough opponent, and another strong team out of Europe. ThatÆs exactly what we got. IÆm actually kind of excited to be playing against an African country. I think that will be a nice challenge for our team. Is it the draw I would have written out on a piece of paper if you had asked me? No. Fair enough. ItÆs still a group that I think if we prepare our team properly and are ready to play, we can get out of group play.ö

On the USAÆs record in Europe:

ôBelieve me, our last two games in Europe, we havenÆt lost. WeÆre 1-0-1. We opened up the World Cup in 2002 against a European opponent and beat them. We have a team thatÆs four years older than the one in 2002. We have a number of players that have experience, not only in a World Cup but in good club competition in Europe. I donÆt think itÆs an issue. Beating a European team is definitely something weÆre capable of doing.ö

On the time frame for roster announcement:

ôIÆll be announcing a roster in April at some point. We will announce our roster ahead of the FIFA deadline.ö

On how he thinks the U.S. players reacted to the draw:

ôWeÆve been qualified since September. However, we have not known who our opponents were and weÆve been somewhat unmotivated because qualifying early and not really having anything in front of us in terms of who we play in the World Cup. I think if youÆre a U.S. player, this is a great challenge and, obviously, very motivating. I think theyÆre excited.ö

On his opinion of Ghana:

ôIn all fairness, I have not seen Ghana play. I know of those players (Samuel Kuffour and Stephen Appiah, who play in Italy) and theyÆre outstanding players. Generally, the African countries have done very well in the World Cup. We saw in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup, Senegal beat France. I would warn all opponents of African countries to beware. I think theyÆre going to be very competitive in this World Cup.ö

On if the team performs very well and doesnÆt get out of the group:

ôIf we play very well and still donÆt advance thatÆs terrific, thatÆs a real positive. Keep in mind, two of these opponents we played in 1990, I donÆt think we left the World Cup in 1990 feeling good about our performance. I still feel that the World Cup is the ultimate challenge in team sport. Whenever you have a team that plays well in that kind of competition, you should feel good about that. We are still not Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, etc., where we go in with the mindset that if we donÆt win a World Cup weÆve fallen short of our goals. Qualifying for the World Cup was fantastic, and anything we can do that is positive in 2006 is a real plus as we continue to move forward with the sport in our countryö

On this teamÆs ability to help grow the game in the U.S. and the chance to make people more aware of soccer in the U.S.:

ôAnytime you have a good performance in a World Cup, especially in the United States, thatÆs positive. Regardless of whether we advance or not, our ability to demonstrate that weÆre closing the gap with the powers around the world will benefit the game in the United States. However, ultimately, the national team will improve as our domestic league continues to grow. As the domestic league grows and we continue to develop players, itÆs only going to help the national team.ö