The U.S. star will be the first to tell you that he hasn't had the easiest season—again—but another landmark is within reach as Chelsea plays for the FIFA Club World Cup title.
Ultimately and through no fault of his own, Jovan Kirovski was a false alarm, a harbinger of nothing.
He signed with Manchester United at 16 and in the early 1990s, back when there was no top-tier American league—back when it had been more than four decades since the U.S. men won a World Cup game—it felt like the young Californian was setting out to explore Mars.