The Clint Dempsey story is the quintessential American Dream story: boy grows up in a trailer park in the middle of nowhere, Texas, learns to play with his immigrant neighbors, joins the only soccer team in the area (three hours away from home), and finally progresses to a level where he now plays professionally for the New England Revolution and has earned a spot on the U.S. national team. At a young age, Dempsey decided that playing soccer is what he wanted to do, and his parents did everything they could to help him realize his goal. The family kept finances tight by never going out to eat, not going on vacation, not buying new cars, and selling the things they could afford to sacrifice. His mother drove Clint to practices and games three days a week, and she also drove his sister, who was a promising tennis player, to her training as well until she suddenly died of a brain aneurysm at 16. As Clint’s mother Debbie says, “We can tell you about it, but until you’ve lived it, you have no idea. And he carries all of it with him every time he steps on the field.” Despite the unending adversity, which culminated in the recent death of a close friend, Houston rapper John Edward ”Big Hawk” Hawkins, Clint Dempsey has lived it all, and his family will be there in Germany supporting him, the man who could become the U.S. National team’s standout midfielder of the tournament.