Jozy Altidore Back From Ankle Sprain, Will Play in Saturday's World Cup Match

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Altidore

​Jozy Altidore, the Boca Raton-born forward for the United States World Cup team, survived his first full practice since an ankle sprain and now will be available Saturday when the Americans open tournament play with a match against England.

He's one of two key players with health concerns -- the other being defender Oguchi Onyewu, who suffered a torn patella tendon during qualifying play last October. Onyewu has yet to play a full 90-minute match since his return, leading to questions about whether he'll be full-strength for the World Cup.

Besides the injury, Altidore's concern may be

that U.S. Coach Bob Bradley will play the hot hand at forward -- and that's been Edson Buddle, the 29-year-old Major League Soccer star who started in place of Altidore and scored two goals in the team's final World Cup tune-up, against Australia. Here's video of Buddle from that match: