NEW YORK (AP) β A crowd of about 2,000 filled part of New York’s Times Square to cheer the U.S. World Cup team during a televised send-off pep rally Friday night.
Fans chanted “U-S-A!” ”Beat Ghana!” and “When the Yanks come marching in” after the 23 American players arrived in a red-white-and-blue bus with “One Nation. One Team” in huge letters.
U.S. captain Clint Dempsey said “we’re excited about going down to the World Cup and doing something special.”
The Americans have home exhibition games against Turkey and Nigeria, then leave June 8 for Brazil and their seventh straight World Cup appearance. In perhaps the toughest first-round group, they open June 16 against Ghana, the nation that eliminated the U.S. in the last two World Cups. They then play Portugal and three-time champion Germany.
