The U.S. men's national team expected to make a positive statement in its World Cup opener.

Instead, it was largely dominated by the Czech Republic, ranked No. 2 in the world by FIFA, going down 3-0.

Striker Jan Koller, the tallest man on the field, scored in the opening minutes, and Tomas Rosicky gave the Czech Republic a 2-nil lead at half time. Rosicky doubled his tally in the 76th minute.

The U.S. did not play poorly in the first half, with the Czechs capitalizing on their few opportunities.

The best chance for the U.S. came in the 28th minute. After several passes down the left side of the pitch, the ball found Claudio Reyna moving toward the top of the box. He ripped a shot low and beat goalkeeper Peter Cech, but the ball deflected off the left post.

U.S. manager Bruce Arena brought fast forward Eddie Johnson and playmaker John O'Brien on for the second half. Johnson was able to provide some spark, including missing just wide on one shot. However, the U.S. looked uncreative and increasingly frustrated as the 2nd half wore on, unable to find many chances to play the ball with purpose to attackers. Throughout the match they had trouble finding attackers, especially target forward Brian McBride.

Moments after Johnson tried to provide a second-half lift, though, Czech star Pavel Nedved found Rosicky running behind the defense. Rosicky chipped the ball over Kasey Keller to put the game away.

The scoring had started in the third minute, with the Czechs finding Zdenek Grygera down the right side of the field. His cross found Koller -- who is listed at either 6-foot-7-inches or 6-foot-8 -- a step away from defender Eddie Pope, and he headed the ball in for a 1-0 lead.

The Americans then settled in a bit, with Reyna able to get good possession and stop attacks in the midfield.

But in the 36th minute, a U.S. defensive clearance went to Rosicky. His rocket of a shot from about 30 yards out beat Keller and found the side of the net to double the lead.

Koller, who had recent knee troubles, left the game with an injury in the 43rd minute.

The U.S. had hoped to show that a run to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup was not a fluke, but now desperately needs results to keep its hopes alive.

"Our players played pretty hard, but didn't play well enough," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. He singled out Donovan for a lack of aggresiveness and said "we got nothing out of (DeMarcus) Beasley on the night."

What's Next

The U.S. will play two more matches in the group stage, against Italy on June 17 and Ghana on June 22. The results will dictate if the team moves on the the 2nd round.

In this first stage of the World Cup, the 32 teams are broken into eight four-team groups. They groups play a round-robin schedule. Teams get three points for a win and one point for draw. The top two teams in each group enter the knockout phase of the tournament.

If teams are tied on points, the first tie-breaker is goal differential. The U.S. could be in trouble with a -3 rating.

While all three matches theoretically carry the same weight, the first seems to have extra importance. In the two previous World Cups -- the only ones under the current format -- 87 percent of teams that won their first game qualified for the second round.

Only 4 percent of teams who lost made it past the group stage.

Who To Watch

Appearing in their fifth straight World Cup finals, the U.S. is led by 24-year-old playmaker Landon Donovan, a star in Major League Soccer who struggled in two stints as a professional in Germany. Donovan, a midfielder who can also play forward, scored against Poland and Mexico in 2002. He also created a score when his pass was deflected in by a defender and had one called back.

The 11 starters were Keller, Stever Cherundolo, Onyewu, Eddie Pope, Eddie Lewis, DaMarcus Beasley, Pablo Mastroeni, Reyna, Bobby Convey, Donovan and McBride.

Donovan was listed as a midfielder, with McBride the only forward.

Recent History

In 2002, the U.S. men's national team surprised many world observers by making a run into the quarterfinals of the World Cup, where it lost 1-nil despite outplaying eventual runners up Germany.

The Americans won their opening match four years ago 3-2 against title contenders Portugual.

Arena waited until about an hour before game time to release his lineup. He had been cautious about announcing the starters, perhaps using the final days of training to make decisions, or perhaps as a bit of gamesmanship with opposing coaches.