VOA慢速英語(yǔ):美國(guó)足球隊(duì)為世界杯做準(zhǔn)備！

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The National Soccer Team has trained at Red Bull Stadium in Harrison, NewJersey, not far from New York City. Recently, the team won an important“friendly” match against a strong opponent, Turkey.

The Americans are hoping to do well at the World Cup -- the championship ofinternational football, or soccer as it is called in the U.S. But it will not be easyto advance, earning the right to move up at the competition.

As play begins, the U.S. team will be competing in what has been called the “Group of Death,” which describes the most difficult group at the World CupFinals. Germany, Ghana and Portugal are also part of the “Group of Death.” The U.S. has to play all three teams to get to the next level of play.

Last month, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann spoke to reporters. JurgenKlinsman is a former German star player and coach. He has served as headof the U.S. team since 2011. He is hopeful about the U.S. team succeeding.

“It’s a tough group. But we are expected and we expect from ourselves to dowell. We expect to go into the knockout stage. So we've got to figure out away to do that. That’s what we are working on. We believe we can absolutelygo into the next round, you know. Will it be tough games, tight games? Absolutely. That’s what the World Cup is all about.”

Clint Dempsey is the captain of the U.S. Team. He said it was an honor to benamed to that position.

“Anytime you can go into a World Cup and be the captain for your countrysomething is very special and you never forget. But during this World Cupqualifying process, once Jurgen named me captain, I just try the best that Ican to lead in a way that I know how to."

Clint Dempsey’s teammates also spoke to reporters. They were hopefulabout the team’s performance in Brazil. But coach Klinsmann sought to limitexpectations.

United States World Cup soccer team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, left, and team captain Clint Dempsey answer questions from the news media.

“Germany is expected to win the World Cup. I don’t think we expect now us towin the World Cup, but definitely we want to go far. We want to, we want todo well.”

The U.S. team plays its first match of the competition in Natal, Brazil on June16th. The opponent will be Ghana, the team that has beaten the U.S. in eachof the past two World Cups.

The U.S. team has qualified for every FIFA World Cup Final since 1990.

I’m Mario Ritter.