The team bus had left Avaya Stadium long before Clint Dempsey emerged from the U.S. locker room following Friday’s World Cup qualifier with Honduras in San Jose, leaving him to search for another ride back to the hotel. And though that was by chance rather than design — Dempsey was delayed after being randomly selected for drug testing — it was also welcome since it gave him an extra few minutes in a uniform he once thought he might never wear again.
Last August, Dempsey was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, a potentially fatal condition that left his career — and his life — in danger.