SAO PAULO - Landon Donovan says the United States will head to the World Cup with its most experienced group of players, giving the Americans a "real chance" to do well at this years tournament. Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 36 Herr . As the U.S. finishes a week-and-a-half training camp in the host country, Donovan said American players have enough confidence and experience to confront more traditional World Cup teams heading into a first round that includes matches against Germany, Portugal and Ghana. "I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and thats a nice feeling going into a World Cup." The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. The Americans will be playing in their seventh straight World Cup, and Donovan is heading to his fourth. "Theres never been competition for places like there is in our team now," the midfielder said during a news conference. "You can really make a case for probably 35 or 40 guys to be a part of a 23-man roster, and thats never been the case. Its really up for grabs in a lot of positions, and that in itself obviously creates competition, which makes the team better." Donovan, who turns 32 in March, said the U.S. team is more respected by opponents. "The reason its the group of death is because we are in it," he said. "In the past, it would have been a relatively easier group for Germany or Ghana or Portugal because they had us in it. But now, because we are in it, it makes it one of the most difficult groups in the tournament." Donovan said the first goal remains to reach the knockout stage of the 32-nation tournament. "Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he said. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at." German coach Jurgen Klinsmann brought 26 players to this training camp get acclimated to the teams World Cup base in South Americas biggest city. The team, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, will play an exhibition against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif. "Weve been very lucky to have two weeks here in Sao Paulo," Donovan said. "Its been very nice to have a couple of weeks to adapt to what its going to be like this summer. When we come back we have a comfort level. We know the people, the club, the training facilities. It makes it a lot easier. You get a feeling for what its like here, and it helps a lot." Klinsmann is expected to visit the Arena da Amazonia on Friday in the jungle city of Manaus, where the U.S. will play Portugal. Nike Zoom Fly Rea . Vinci also beat Dulgheru last week in Bucharest en route to her first WTA final in a year. Vinci next faces sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan, who beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-2. No. Nike Vapormax Herr Rea . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. http://www.airvapormaxsverige.com/nike-zoom-sverige/pegasus-35.html . After seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs.SAN FRANCISCO - Second baseman Marco Scutaro was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday as he recovers from back surgery.The Giants said they plan to retain Scutaro and continue working with him through his rehabilitation following back surgery that could end his career. Dr. Michael Wang performed a fusion last month in Miami to alleviate the troublesome area at level L-2/L-3 of Scutaros spine. It will be four-to-six months before doctors determine whether Scutaro can play baseball again.Assistant general manager Bobby Evans said Scutaro is hes not yet pain-free, which isnt uncommon after surgery.The defending World Series champions owe Scutaro $6 million for 2015, the final season of a $20 million, three-year contract signed in December 2012. San Francisco needed to clear room on the 40-man roster for outfielder Nori Aoki, who received a $4.7 million, one-year deal this week.The 39-year-old Scutaro, a journeyman infielder who became the surprising 2012 NL Championship Series MVP, played in only five games last season — all in July — because of recurring back problems that landed him on the disabled list for good July 25. Nike Air Vapormax Plus Dam. He is now resting at home and will soon begin the long rehabilitation program post-surgery.Scutaro had known he might need the operation in order to give him a quality of life even just in his day-to-day schedule off the baseball field.In parts of 13 major league seasons with the Giants, Oakland, New York Mets, Boston, Toronto and Colorado, Scutaro is a career .277 hitter with 77 home runs and 509 RBIs with 269 doubles and 21 triples.Scutaro put up remarkable numbers in 2012 after joining the Giants from the Colorado Rockies on July 27. He batted .362 with three homers and 44 RBIs in 61 regular-season games with the Giants.In a seven-game 2012 NL Championship Series against St. Louis, Scutaro had six multihit games and matched an LCS record with 14 hits.He batted .500 (14 for 28) with four RBIs in the NLCS, playing in his second post-season and first since 2006 with Oakland. He became the first player in major league history with six multihit games in an LCS. ' ' '