For American World Cup Hopefuls, the Road to Brazil Starts at Stanford

STANFORD, California — Kyle Beckerman says he and the 29 young men with him "feel like we go to Stanford right now." They do spend most of their time at this idyllic Northern California university. And it's true that he and the other soccer players who make up the United States Men's National Team (USMNT) can be seen in campus gyms and cafeterias.

But, while most of the actual students here worry about evaluations in computer science or economics, history or psychology, Beckerman and his compatriots are steeling themselves for a different sort of test: the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.