U.S. Needs Victory, Help

Win and hope.

That’s what it comes down to for the U.S. soccer team.

The Americans must beat Ghana today and get some help to advance to the World Cup’s second round.

“We know what we have to do,” U.S. captain Claudio Reyna said Wednesday. “There’s no hiding the fact that we need to win.”

For the U.S. to have a realistic shot at advancing to the second round, the Americans need Italy to beat the Czech Republic in a game that kicks off in Hamburg at the same time. There are other outcomes that could send the Americans through, but they are improbable because their 3-0 loss to the Czechs means, in most combinations, the U.S. would have to beat Ghana by at least four goals.

If any of this happens, the probable reward would be a date with tournament favorite Brazil.

Ghana, which lost to Italy, 2-0, would go to the second round with a victory, and possibly could advance with a tie.

Each team will be missing a pair of suspended players. Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari, its two goal scorers, will sit out, as will U.S. defender Eddie Pope and midfielder Pablo Mastroeni.

Jimmy Conrad, who entered after Pope was ejected against Italy, figures to take over his role in central defense. Replacing Mastroeni will be trickier. U.S. Coach Bruce Arena could insert Ben Olsen into defensive midfield, or he could go with Eddie Lewis.

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The players

Rosters for today’s Ghana-U.S. game (x-suspended):

GHANA

*--* 1 Sammy Adjei...G 2 Hans Sarpei...D 3 Asamoah Gyan-x...F 4 Samuel Kuffour...D 5 John Mensah...D 6 Emmanuel Pappoe...D 7 Illiasu Shilla...D 8 Michael Essien...M 9 Derek Boateng...M 10 Stephen Appiah...M 11 Sulley Muntari-x...M 12 A. Tachie-Mensah...F 13 Habib Mohamed...D 14 Matthew Amoah...F 15 John Pantsil...D 16 George Owu...G 17 Daniel Quaye...D 18 Eric Addo...M 19 Razak Pimpong...F 20 Otto Addo...M 21 Issah Ahmed...D 22 Richard Kingston...G 23 Haminu Dramani...M

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UNITED STATES

*--* 1 Tim Howard...G 2 Chris Albright...D 3 Carlos Bocanegra...D 4 Pablo Mastroeni-x...D 5 John O’Brien...M 6 Steve Cherundolo...D 7 Eddie Lewis...D 8 Clint Dempsey...M 9 Eddie Johnson...F 10 Claudio Reyna...M 11 Brian Ching...F 12 Gregg Berhalter...D 13 Jimmy Conrad...D 14 Ben Olsen...M 15 Bobby Convey...M 16 Josh Wolff...F 17 DaMarcus Beasley...M 18 Kasey Keller...G 19 M. Hahnemann...G 20 Brian McBride...F 21 Landon Donovan...M 22 Oguchi Onyewu...D 23 Eddie Pope-x...D

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Source: FIFA