World Cup Notes: Ballack to miss Germany opener

German soccer captain Michael Ballack will miss today's opening World Cup match against Costa Rica with a calf injury, coach Juergen Klinsmann said.

"It seems that Michael Ballack won't be able to run out with the team against Costa Rica," Klinsmann said Thursday at a news conference in Berlin. "We hope that Michael will be available for the second match."

Klinsmann is struggling to convince current and former players that Germany can win the World Cup for a fourth time after overhauling the team since taking over in 2004. Thomas Berthold, a world champion in 1990, said in an interview Germany has "slipped behind" its biggest rivals and Ballack told the Tagesspiegel newspaper he's "unsure" about the team's chances.

Germany will kick off the monthlong tournament, the world's most-watched sporting event, in Munich today. The team's second match is against Poland on June 14.

Rooney trains

with England

BUEHLERTAL, Germany — Wayne Rooney practiced with England, hours after being cleared by doctors to play in the World Cup following his recovery from a broken right foot.

The morning after returning to Germany on a late-night flight from England, Rooney casually kicked a ball with David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville before taking part in light running, stretching and ball drills.

Even though the 20-year-old Rooney is back on the England squad, he is unlikely to play until after the group games.

Notes

• Ronaldo, the three-time world player of the year, missed training after waking up with a "slight fever," Brazil's soccer federation said. The 29-year-old striker is taking medication, the federation said on its Web site, without giving further information. Brazil's first game is against Croatia on June 13 in Berlin.

• FIFA is demanding that top domestic soccer leagues reduce their number of teams to a maximum of 18, which would make premier players more available to national teams.

President Sepp Blatter, speaking at the conclusion of the FIFA Congress in Munich, Germany, indicated he wants the leagues down from 20 by the start of the 2007-08 season.

• Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved, the 2003 European player of the year, pulled out of training after sustaining a possible knee injury in a collision with teammate David Rozehnal. Nedved's condition was not immediately clear.

The Czechs play the United States on Monday in the World Cup.

• Team Mexico goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez returned to Mexico to be with his family after the death of his father. He left open the possibility he will return for at least some of Mexico's World Cup games.