IRENE, South Africa — Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu are fit enough to play in the United States’ World Cup opener against England on Saturday.
Altidore resumed full practice Tuesday, six days after the forward sprained his right ankle in practice. He missed Saturday’s 3-1 exhibition win over Australia.
“Cost him a couple days, but from the start we knew that this was very minor,” U.S. coach Bob Bradley said Wednesday. “The fact that he’s back in regular training certainly means that he’s available for whatever role we choose for Saturday.”
Onyewu tore his left patellar tendon Oct. 14 during the final World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica. The defender played in all three World Cup warmups but saw limited action.
Defender Carlos Bocanegra appears to have recovered from sports hernia surgery May 5, playing in the last two exhibitions. Defender Jay DeMerit also played in the last two games after getting over an abdominal strain.
High prices.
Asking prices for the U.S.-England game in Rustenburg averaged $402.90, according to . That’s nearly half the $804.62 average for Friday’s opener between South Africa and Mexico at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Ticket sales have hit 97 percent, and organizers are expecting to have sold above 98 percent of the more than 3 million tickets by the end of the tournament.
Footnotes.
Chile striker Humberto Suazo is expected to recover from a left thigh injury in time for Wednesday’s match against Honduras.
• Switzerland captain Alex Frei sprained his right ankle during practice and is questionable for Wednesday’s match against Spain.
• Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta will go to the World Cup after medical tests showed his thigh injury is not as severe as feared.
The Associated Press
