Countdown to 2014 World Cup in Brazil: Day 55

By JACK BELL (NY TIMES)

The 2014 World Cup begins on June 12, when Brazil plays Croatia in the opening match. Reporters and editors for The Times will count down to the start of the tournament each day with a short capsule of news and interesting tidbits.

The United States men’s national team is going back to school.

Coach Jurgen Klinsmann has announced that he will call players into a pre-World Cup camp at Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., beginning on May 14. The team will train at Stanford Stadium and at Cagan Stadium, the university’s soccer facility.

“This is going to be the foundation of the World Cup,” Klinsmann said in a video interview released Thursday by the United States Soccer Federation (the full interview is below). “It’s a dry climate. It’s fresh air. We can add more sessions into that period than we usually would do.”Continue reading the main story

To punctuate the seriousness of Klinsmann’s approach as the American players get ready for Brazil, all training sessions will be closed to the public.

A preliminary 30-man roster has to be submitted to FIFA by May 13, with the final 23-man rosters submitted by June 2.

“We decided to take more players with in order to keep that competition alive until we have to name the final roster,” Klinsmann said. “And also because, God forbid, there’s an injury or two.

“We have quite a few positions where we have to make 50-50 decisions, where it could go either way. I think there is a race going on in several positions where we just need to see who makes a difference now, who understands the moment, who’s stepping it up now.”

Before departing for Brazil (where the United States will face Ghana on June 16 in Natal; Portugal on June 22 in Manaus; and Germany on June 26 in Recife, in the first round) the American team is scheduled to play three games: against Azerbaijan on May 27 in San Francisco; Turkey in Harrison, N.J., on June 1; and Nigeria on June 7 in Jacksonville, Fla.