Grant Freking

It says here that a veteran roster and head coach will lead the Americans to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.

Here are my picks to win it all and to surprise, as well as five players to watch closely.

The team enters the league’s World Cup break on a high note, and Robinson will again represent the U.S. on the biggest stage.

Can they treat the coming two-month World Cup break as a second Training Camp and get the back line back on track?

Miami won MLS Cup last season, to be sure, but otherwise the franchises have been equally successful in the Eastern Conference.

Evander and Roman Celentano put the team on their backs in Chicago and set up FCC as favorites in their four remaining matches this month.

His growing partnership with Evander bodes well for the team’s offense. Uneven defense remains a big problem.

Fun and flawed, the team is floudering in 10th place in the East Conference. Up next are matches against the two New York teams.

Can FCC convince Brazil's all-time leading scorer to join MLS? Can pigs fly?

Combined with Evander’s lack of production, FC Cincinnati is struggling to remain competitive.