10 Biggest Stars Of The 2014 FIFA World Cup (So Far)

9. Clint Dempsey

Amazingly, the United States have sold the second most tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with only the host nation Brazil selling more. For a nation who class football as perhaps their fifth or sixth biggest sport, that is some going. And despite their rather dubious-looking kit (it's something that would look more at home on the shelf in a children's sweet shop), the USA made a good start to their tournament over in Brazil. In fact, they made a lightning start, scoring the fastest goal of the tournament so far, thanks to their very own Clint Dempsey. The former Fulham man is America's captain at the World Cup, and with Landon Donovan controversially left at home by Jurgen Klinsmann, the pressure is on Dempsey to deliver. He is one of the big worldwide exports of United Sates football, but he seemed to shirk off that pressure after just 27 seconds of their match against Ghana. The roar when Dempsey drilled the ball into the corner of the net was akin to the kind of noise we'd expect from a Brazilian goal at this World Cup - and Dempsey showed just what it meant to him. With Portugal looking suspiciously out of sorts - although admittedly, they were playing the white-hot Germans - the USA will fancy a sniff of qualifying for the next stage, just as they did in 2010. Although they had a slightly easier group then, perhaps best summed up by England finishing second in that forgettable tournament for the Three Lions.