United States defenders Oguchi Onyewu, Jay DeMerit and Carlos Bocanegra are all battling injury ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.
Bocanegra, the team captain, had hernia surgery in Germany. DeMerit also has been struggling with an abdominal strain. Onyewu hasn't played a game since last October after injuring his left knee.
The coaching staff are eager to see what level of match fitness the players are at as the side plays the Czech Republic on Tuesday and Turkey on Saturday before heading to South Africa.
The Americans have a friendly against Australia on June 5, and their World Cup opener is one week later against England.
"I don't think the games are any rougher than anybody knows," Onyewu said yesterday on the final day of training camp at Princeton University. "There will be injuries; you know that leading up to this."
Bocanegra's was the most recent, and coach Bob Bradley only revealed on Saturday that the team captain had surgery two weeks ago. The centre-back, who turns 31 tomorrow, hopes to be in the line-up in Hartford, Connecticut, for his birthday.
He said: "I don't think it's a big issue. "I thought it would be best to get the little procedure done as soon as possible. I was running three days after.
"It's a 15-to-20 minute procedure. There was no use to keep going and going when there was pain."
Bocanegra was hurt on March 28 while playing for Rennes.
