The US national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann has sensationally claimed that his team are behind the preparations for the World Cup 2014. The US are expected to have the toughest World Cup campaign of the lot after being grouped alongside Germany, Portugal, and Ghana. All four teams realistically come into the tournament with aspirations of reaching the knockout stages, but only two can reach this stage. Klinsmann accepted when the draw was made that it would be tough for the US to reach the knockout stages.

Now, he has further darkened in the mood by suggesting that the US are well behind their schedule for preparation. He recently named the squad of 30 players, which will be cut down to 23 in the first week of June. There have already been several surprises in the squad with DC United midfielder Eddie Johnson being one of the high-profile absentees. The three group opponents start their training next week after the end of the league season in Europe. On the other hand, the US have already started preparing for the World Cup and were greeted with intense heat of the Stanford stadium.

Klinsmann says that the players in Europe will be coming into the tournament at the peak of their condition, while the US players have to improve a lot.

“Their foundation is different than ours. A lot of our guys do not have the same foundation as our opponents have. We have to catch up. That’s the work we have to do now over the next three weeks before we start our tournament. Hopefully, we catch up and even add a little bit more on top of it. That’s what starts today. We combine it all in an exciting way. With the ball, with small-sided games with a lot of action there, so we’re not going to be running through the forest here even if it’s beautiful,” said Klinsmann.