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SAO PAULO - Landon hat was surprising, actually I was quite shocked, was her captivating short program. In fact, it ranks as oneDonovan says the United States will head to the World Cup with its most experienced group of players, giving the Americans a "real chance" to do well at this years tournament. Black Marshawn Lynch Elite Womens Jersey . As the U.S. finishes a week-and-a-half training camp in the host country, Donovan said American players have enough confidence and experience to confront more traditional World Cup teams heading into a first round that includes matches against Germany, Portugal and Ghana. "I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and thats a nice feeling going into a World Cup." The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. The Americans will be playing in their seventh straight World Cup, and Donovan is heading to his fourth. "Theres never been competition for places like there is in our team now," the midfielder said during a news conference. "You can really make a case for probably 35 or 40 guys to be a part of a 23-man roster, and thats never been the case. Its really up for grabs in a lot of positions, and that in itself obviously creates competition, which makes the team better." Donovan, who turns 32 in March, said the U.S. team is more respected by opponents. "The reason its the group of death is because we are in it," he said. "In the past, it would have been a relatively easier group for Germany or Ghana or Portugal because they had us in it. But now, because we are in it, it makes it one of the most difficult groups in the tournament." Donovan said the first goal remains to reach the knockout stage of the 32-nation tournament. "Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he said. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at." German coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought 26 players to this training camp get acclimated to the teams World Cup base in South Americas biggest city. The team, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, will play an exhibition against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif. "Weve been very lucky to have two weeks here in Sao Paulo," Donovan said. "Its been very nice to have a couple of weeks to adapt to what its going to be like this summer. When we come back we have a comfort level. We know the people, the club, the training facilities. It makes it a lot easier. You get a feeling for what its like here, and it helps a lot." Klinsmann is expected to visit the Arena da Amazonia on Friday in the jungle city of Manaus, where the U.S. will play Portugal. Green 12th Fan Limited Mens Jersey . Ramirez signed a minor league deal with the Cubs on Sunday and will be a player-coach at Triple-A Iowa after he gets some at-bats in extended spring training at the teams facility in Mesa, Arizona. The 41-year-old Ramirez is a . Blue Zach Miller Elite Super Bowl Mens Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Tuukka Rask, Boston (4) - Explosive, perfect positioning and great rebound control for all five games that led to this series being clinched.Sensational skates at the Grand Prix Final are boding well for Sochi, as the fields close in and rivalries heat up. As the season progresses, the gaps are narrowing and the fields are closing in on the leaders. A week ago, there wasnt an obvious challenger in the mens or pairs event. In fact, heading into the Grand Prix Final in Japan, it was difficult to imagine that the defending champions could be beaten. Patrick Chan had an enormous 30-point lead over the rest of the men in this seasons scores and so did the defending world pair champions from Russia - Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov - who had the same 30-point margin over the rest of the teams. Patrick faltered in the short program in Japan and Tatiana and Max in the free program to open the door, but what was intriguing in both cases was the way that the challengers stepped up and that the underdogs won. Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan hit one out of the park in the short program breaking Patricks world record that he set just two weeks ago. It all came together for Yuzuru in that performance, as he aggressively attacked the jumps and played with the music to sell his program to his hometown audience. It was an easy sell and they ate it up to help lift Yuzuru to a record-breaking skate where he missed the 100-point mark by a slim .16. As Coach Brian Orser said when the marks were posted, "Sooooo close!" Patrick and Yuzuru both delivered strong free programs each with one mistake, but the edge went to Hanyu and Patrick had his first loss of the season. Patrick, of course - barring injury - has his Olympic spot locked up. Theres no doubt he will go as this countrys No. 1 guy. Thats not the case for Yuzuru, whos fighting for his Olympic life. Hes up against five other guys who are all capable and who are all fighting for three spots. With the new world record in the short program, the second best freeskate and total scores ever and with the win over Chan, one would think Yuzuru might be awarded one of those coveted spots to Sochi. But no such spot has been given and the Japanese team will be named after their nationals - which take place just before Christmas. Patrick can find new motivation in the fact that hell be pushed and he will indeed need two great skates like he had two weeks ago in Paris to win Olympic Gold. The Russian pairs take the same knowledge into the holiday season with the loss to the German team of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy. It is the kind of knowledge one needs at this time of year, lest one sits back and gets too comfortable. It was expected that the Ice Dance would be a close contest in Japan. While defending world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White received betterr scores all season than Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, one could sense that Tessa and Scott were working out the kinks early in the series. White Customized Elite Seahawks Jersey. And in Japan they put the technical glitches behind them and had stunning performances in both the Short and Free Dance. Meryl and Charlie brought their A game as well and came away with the win. And once again we were reminded how lucky we are to have two teams of their calibre at the same time. It was a terrific event and a moment that stood out for me was the look on the faces of Tessa and Scott after the free dance. Total satisfaction - a look thats been missing of late. When youre competing there are always the little things that youve done better in practice or things you had to fight through, that werent quite right and when you finish your skate those things immediately flash through your mind and the instant self evaluation is briefly written on your face. Tessas appraisal was immediate. Her eyes flashed in delight and she said yes. Totally satisfied. That was the performance they had been reaching for. They now have the momentum and as their rivalry demands, will have to build on it. They have to dig deep and soul search in order to answer the questions. "What more can we do?" "Whats next to fine tune?" The same questions that Meryl and Charlie are now asking in light of their narrow win. This is why were so fortunate to have these two great teams. As they drive each other to strategically find the edge, they find new levels of excellence and we the audience are ultimately the winners. In the ladies event the clear winner in Japan was indeed the favourite going in, hometown heroine Olympic Silver medalist Mao Asada. While it was no surprise to me that Mao won gold w of my all time favourite skates. In a word, she was brilliant and when I rack my brain for comparisons, it would be Olympic champion and the defending world champion Yuna Kim. Yuna missed the Grand Prix season due to injury and competed in a B international to gain some competition mileage for her new material, while the Final was taking place. She received some impressive scores and so the stage is set for a showdown in the ladies event in Sochi. Mao and Yuna - a rematch from 2010. Yuna by all accounts is on track to be as good as ever, while Mao is new and improved. Her jumping arsenal is bigger and better and artistically she is skating, with more joy, heartfelt emotion and conviction than ever before. Let the games begin! cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
