Road gets tougher for triumphant US

Put them in the Rose Bowl, Giants Stadium, Denver or Dallas and the United States can beat Mexico.  Now the trick is doing it at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium.  And finding ways to beat other top teams on the road on a regular basis like, say Thursday, when the Americans face Argentina, in the Copa America in Venezuela.

"It's mentality, simple as that," said Landon Donovan, whose penalty kick helped rally the Americans to a 2-1 victory in the Gold Cup Final Sunday in Chicago, their first come from behind win over Mexico.  "If they score that goal in the first half in Azteca, we don't win this game.  We're not there yet, but we're getting there."

The US is 10-0-1 this year, but all those games have been in the United States.  The Americans havent played a road game since they were knocked out of last year's World Cup in the first round.  They're guaranteed at least three games on foreign soil at the Copa America, where the US and Mexico are filling out the field at South America's championship.  Little is expected from the Americans.  That's partly because Argentina is bringing such stars as Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez, while the Americans are sending 16 players who've made 10 or fewer appearances for the national team. Three have never even gotten in a game.

Among the players from the Gold Cup who didn't make the trip south: Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Tim Howard and Oguchi Onyewu.  "We made the decision to go to the Copa America because of the history of that tournament and because of the competition,"coach Bob Bradley said, "We know it's going to be a big challenge."

The State Department is warning American visitorsto Venezuela that they, too, may be in for a challenge.  An advisory released Friday warned travellers to the Copa America that they could get caught in violent street protests against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.  "Violent crime, including kidnappings has increased in Venezuela, particularly in major cities and along the border with Columbia," the State Department said.

The Copa America is the oldest surviving international soccer competition in the world, held for the first time in 1916 in Argentina. The U.S. is making its third appearance in South America’s regional championship, having reached the semifinals in 1995 after debuting in the tournament in 1993 in Ecuador. With nine cities serving as venues across the country, Venezuela completes the cycle of having every team on the continent host the event.

The U.S. was drawn into Group C of the tournament, and will open their campaign against 14-time Copa America champion Argentina on June 28 in Maracaibo. The U.S. will then face Paraguay on July 2 in Barinas, and will close out group play against Colombia on July 5 in Barquisimeto.

Facts
Location: Venezuela
Dates: June 26-July 15
Reigning Champion: Brazil
Past U.S. Results: 1993 (12th place), 1995 (4th)

Competition structure
Group Phase: Three groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each group advancing along with the two best third-place teams
Knockout Phase: Single elimination beginning with quarterfinals