U.S. SOCCER Reyna's happy with MRI report

The team captain should be ready for the World Cup opener June 12.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Claudio Reyna was smiling as he walked through the lobby of the U.S. team hotel Wednesday.
An MRI exam showed that the strained right hamstring he sustained during a 1-0 loss to Morocco the previous night was minor and there was no muscle damage. While the U.S. captain won't play in the Americans' two remaining exhibition games before the World Cup, he should be ready for the opener against the Czech Republic June 12.
"Good news, definitely," he said. "I'm happy, more relieved today."
Reyna was injured about 11 minutes in Wednesday night when he tried to intercept a pass. The 32-year-old midfielder missed the 1994 World Cup because of a hamstring injury and the 2002 opening win over Portugal because of a strained right quadriceps.
He was playing with the U.S. team for the first time this year after a season with Manchester City interrupted by ankle and shoulder injuries limited him to 23 of 44 games. His U.S. teammates count on him to control the tempo and settle them when opponents put on pressure.
"It's great news," forward Brian McBride said. "We need Claud."
U.S. assistant coach Glenn Myernick said the staff wasn't overly concerned.
"There's no alarm bells going off that he's going to be out for a long time," he said.
O'Brien passes first test
John O'Brien, another U.S. midfielder with an injury filled history, played the first half against the Atlas Lions and looked good. Coach Bruce Arena, who is bringing O'Brien along slowly, had planned to use him for just 45 minutes.
Since the 2002 World Cup, O'Brien's career has been derailed by Achilles' tendon, groin and hip problems.
"I felt good. I did some things that I wanted to do," he said. "I had a couple of good passes. I had a couple of bad ones, too. I think there's definitely room for improvement."
All along, Arena has said his goal is to have O'Brien ready by tournament time. When healthy, O'Brien is among the most-talented American players, a former starter for Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
"The overall assessment of John throughout the camp since we started May 10 has been very positive," Myernick said.
Pablo Mastroeni, who replaced Reyna at defensive midfield, had the only other health issue during Tuesday's game.
He was hit on a knee and limped a bit, but the knock wasn't believed to be significant.
After training Wednesday, the U.S. team headed to Cleveland for Friday night's game against Venezuela. The Americans then meet Latvia Sunday at East Hartford, Conn., completing their three-game, six-day sendoff series.
"The fact that he's missed only one day of training through the whole process has been very good. With John, I believe we're on schedule."
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