US to face Turkey today

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

There’s a bit of chaos when a national team comes together.

“We have own idea about things at Everton,” U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “And AC Milan have their own ideas. And Rennes have their own ideas. And Watford.”

By the time of the June 12 World Cup opener against England, all these players from different clubs will form a coherent team, and that process will accelerate today when the United States plays Turkey in its last game before leaving for South Africa.

More than 50,000 tickets have been sold for the sendoff match at Lincoln Financial Field. Most starters were rested for Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic, among them Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Howard.

“We’ll have a team that I think will be close to our regular team,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said Friday.

Turkey, a 2002 World Cup semifinalist that failed to qualify for this year’s tournament, is a physical side with a reputation for rough play. The Turks are ranked 29th in the world, 15 places below the U.S. and four above the Czechs.

It is a far better test than four years ago, when the last three World Cup warmups were against Morocco, Venezuela and Latvia.

“We look for these games to fine tune things. I don’t think playing teams of lesser quality is going to help us, at all,” defender Oguchi Onyewu said. “It’s going to help us pinpoint certain weaknesses or things we have to work on as a group.”

Onyewu, who is with AC Milan, returned Tuesday night from October surgery to repair a torn pateller tendon in his left knee and appeared rusty, getting outjumped by Tomas Sivok for a header on the first Czech goal. Onyewu could form the back line with Watford’s Jay DeMerit, out since April 17 with an abdominal strain; and Rennes’ Carlos Bocanegra, sidelined since sports hernia surgery on May 5. Jonathan Spector or Steve Cherundolo could play on the right.

DeMerit and Bocanegra have been in full training for a week and appear ready for the field.

Once in South Africa, the Americans play Australia in another exhibition June 5 before the first competitive match.