Less than the best to put U.S. to test

Defending champion Spain and stars Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta will train in the Washington area next week. England and Wayne Rooney arrive today for a week of workouts in Miami. Ivory Coast and Didier Drogba have games in St. Louis and Texas.

But instead of preparing for the World Cup against top teams, the United States arranged a sendoff series against No. 85 Azerbaijan, No. 39 Turkey and No. 44 Nigeria.

Not that U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann didn’t try to schedule tougher opponents.

“You’re trying to find the best teams that suit you. It’s not that easy anymore,” he said leading to today’s exhibition against Turkey at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

When the U.S. contacted high-profile teams, Klinsmann said they backed off.

“Has to do a little bit with our results of the last two years,” he said.

Since Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley in July 2011, the U.S. defeated Italy for the first time in 11 games over 78 years, defeated Mexico in Mexico for the first time in 75 years and qualified for its seventh straight World Cup.

Klinsmann chose Stanford University for a two-week training camp that opened on May 14, and the Americans started their prep schedule on Tuesday with a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan — coached by Berti Vogts, a special adviser to Klinsmann. The American defense and goalkeeper Tim Howard were hardly tested, and the U.S. offense seemed to be slowed by heavy legs following a physically demanding training camp.

“Now the teams start progressively getting harder,” defender Omar Gonzalez said. “I think it’s a great three games for us, and it’s just an opportunity for us to shore things up, to gain a little bit of confidence.”

Turkey hasn’t appeared at the World Cup since 2002, when it finished third after losing to eventual champion Brazil 1-0 in the semifinals, and then lost to Germany in the semifinals of the 2008 European Championship. The Turks finished fourth in their qualifying group for this World Cup, behind the Netherlands, Romania and Hungary.

“Turkey is an unpredictable team. It’s a team that has a lot of individual skills, and they are good players that can make a difference in half a second,” Klinsmann said.

After this, the last preWorld Cup exhibition for the Americans is on Saturday against Nigeria at Jacksonville, Fla. That’s followed by a scrimmage in Sao Paulo against Belgium on June 12.

“We’re not worried about the results,” Klinsmann said. “Even if we would have a negative result in these preparation games, we would take it the right way.”

Mexico tops Ecuador

Luis Montes scored two minutes before a leg injury sent him to the hospital, helping Mexico defeat Ecuador 3-1 in Arlington, Texas, in the first of three tune-ups in the U.S. leading to the World Cup.

Italy loses midfielder

Key Italy midfielder Riccardo Montolivo suffered a broken left tibia during an exhibition with Ireland that ended in a 0-0 tie.