Paraguay's Scoreboard

10 Jun		ENG	:	PAR		1:0 (1:0)
15 Jun		SWE	:	PAR		1:0 (0:0)
20 Jun		PAR	:	TRI		2:0 (1:0)

Poland's Scoreboard

09 Jun		POL	:	ECU		0:2 (0:1)
14 Jun		GER	:	POL		1:0 (0:0)
20 Jun		CRC	:	POL		1:2 (1:1)

USA Soccer Team Profile

Post Ranking: 13
Region: North/Central America and Caribbean
World Cup History: Eighth appearance, made 1930 semifinals and 2002 quarterfinals
Top Player: MF-F Landon Donovan
Lowdown: Was 2002 an aberration? Or a signal to the rest of the world that American soccer has joined the elite? The 2006 tournament will be a good indicator because many of the American players are well known in international circles. Although the core of the team will be the European-based players -- Kasey Keller, Claudio Reyna, DaMarcus Beasley and Brian McBride -- the Americans' success will depend heavily on Donovan, who scored twice in 2002 and was the most influential U.S. player during the recent qualifying campaign. Donovan played at Bayer Leverkusen in Germany last winter, but quickly returned to the comforts of MLS.

Iran's Soccer Team Profile

Post Ranking: 25
Region: Asia
World Cup History: Third appearance
Top Player: D Hossein Kaebi
Lowdown: Kaebi keys the team's 4-2-3-1 formation. F Ali Daei, 36, has scored more than 100 international goals; he teams up front with Vahid Hashemian (Hannover 96).

Klinsmann gets Beckenbauer approval

Franz Beckenbauer, head of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee, believes under-fire coach Jurgen Klinsmann can lead Germany to the title of world football's premier tournament.

A finals winner as a player in 1974 with West Germany and as German coach in 1990, Beckenbauer said: "I have confidence in Jurgen Klinsmann. He will assemble a German team that will be at the peak of its form.

"With more enthusiasm from the public, it's very possible that Germany could win the World Cup," Beckenbauer said on the sidelines of a foreign ministry reception marking the end of his 31-country tour to promote the World Cup.

Klinsmann has been heavily criticised for jetting back to his Californian home after matches rather than staying in his homeland.

The German team were also last month hammered 4-1 by Italy but rebounded to record a similar scoreline against the United States.


For more World Cup Germany information check the rest of our blogs or the IAS Sportbook side.