Beckerman insists USA fit and ready for Germany
United States midfielder Kyle Beckerman insisted fatigue will not hamper his side's chances of reaching the last 16 at the FIFA World Cup.
Jurgen Klinsmann's men will meet Group G rivals Germany in Recife on Thursday, with a spot in the knockout phase up for grabs.
Both teams only need a draw to seal their passage into the next round but the fixture comes shortly after the US' energy-sapping 2-2 draw against Portugal in humid conditions in Manaus.
Teams have struggled to back up from trips to Manaus - deep in the world's largest tropical rain forest - with England, Italy, Cameroon and Croatia all losing their next matches.
But Beckerman, who played the full 90 minutes against Portugal, said his team-mates are fit and ready to go.
"I don't think it's really bothering us right now," the 32-year-old said.
"I think our minds are... this is the biggest game of a lot of our lives right now so any fatigue in our legs will be erased.
"We have got to give everything we've got and more. I think we've done the proper stuff, we've recovered our legs so we don't think the short rest has been harmful at all."
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With Germany coach Joachim Low having worked with Klinsmann before - he was the now-US coach's assistant for the 2006 World Cup - it has been suggested that both nations will happily settle for a draw.
However, German-born defender Fabian Johnson said playing for a point was not part of the US side's nature.
"I think everybody wants to win this game," he said. "We did in our qualifier when we won to qualify for the World Cup.
"We played against Panama and we won that game that allowed Mexico to go through to the World Cup."
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