Stars
A former striker at the Bundesliga's Bayer Leverkusen, Landon Donovan is one of America's top players along with winger DeMarcus Beasley. Kasey Keller, another Bundesliga fixture at Borussia Mönchengladbach, stands between the posts for the US.

World Cup History
Germany 2006 marks the American team's eighth trip to the World Cup finals.
1930: semi-finals
1934: round of 16
1950: preliminary
1990: preliminary
1994: round of 16
1998: preliminary
2002: quarter-finals

Match Schedule: Preliminary Round
June 12: USA - Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen
June 17: Italy - USA in Kaiserslautern
June 22: Ghana - USA in Nuremberg

World Cup Base
The USA will be staying in the northern harbor city of Hamburg.

Outlook
"It is definitly going to be a piece of hard work," coach Bruce Arena said after the December group lottery that pitted him against Italy, the Czech Republic and Ghana. Still, the American is confident his side can achieve a success similar to the 2002 World Cup if they're able to play as a cohesive team.

Squad :
Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller (Borussia Monchengladbach), Tim Howard (Manchester United), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Cory Gibbs (ADO Den Haag), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Eddie Lewis (Leeds United), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake)
Midfielders: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City), John O'Brien (Chivas USA), Ben Olsen (DC United), DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Bobby Convey (Reading)
Forwards: Brian McBride (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo).