It's time to deliver: US Coach

GELSENKIRCHEN, June 11 (Reuters) United States coach Bruce Arena said today he had told his players the starting line-up for their World Cup opener tomorrow and it was time for them to deliver.

''Our preparation has gone well, our team is ready to play and there will be no excuses,'' Arena told reporters ahead of tomorrow's Group E game with the Czech Republic.

The highly regarded Czechs know complacency could be fatal when they meet the US in Gelsenkirchen on tomorrow. The Americans reached the quarter-finals after shocking Portugal 3-2 in their World Cup opener four years ago.

Injury may deprive the Czechs of forward Milan Baros, but Arena said that would not make a huge difference.

''Although he is certainly a loss they are one of the few teams in the World Cup who can afford losing a player like that and still be pretty potent in the attack and midfield,'' he said.

US captain Claudio Reyna, in a joint news conference with Arena, said his team where fully prepared for the Czech's strong attack and would take no chances with towering Jan Koller.

''We cannot be taken by surprise and think that he is only a big guy who heads the balls. He has good feet, he heads the ball and can find the pass as well.'' Arena named the Czechs an ''outstanding opponent'' but said he did not expect surprises from them in Gelsenkirchen tomorrow.

''There is an obvious style and a method to their madness.'' He recalled how he watched Czechoslovakia crush the US 5-1 from the stands in Florence in the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

''In a sense it was embarrassing. We were dominated then and that is what I recall. We did not belong on the field that day.'' ''That was a day that demonstrated to me that we had a long way to go and hopefully 16 years later we can have a better showing.'' The US are appearing in their fifth consecutive finals, with Reyna and keeper Kasey Keller appearing in their fourth finals. They reached their highest FIFA ranking ever of fourth in April.

''I am sick of the preparation. I want to hear the whistle tomorrow,'' said Arena.

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