The World Cup starts on Thursday and it's hard to not be a little excited to see the best soccer players in the world compete on its brightest stage, even if you aren't an avid fan.
One athlete who'll be following closely is Cam Newton, who appeared in this promo video titled "I believe" along with actor John Hamm, Ice Cube and Kevin Costner (among others). Perhaps ESPN asked the Panthers quarterback to appear in the promo, but I'd like to believe he's simply a big soccer fan. Steve Smith was a huge supporter of soccer and tennis, if you remember correctly -- so perhaps Cam is simply looking to keep the dream alive.
Realistically the USA have a very slim chance of making waves in the World Cup, but crazier things have happened. Their first test will be to fight out of the ominous "group of death," where they're forced to square off again Germany, Portugal and Ghana.
The USMNT play its first game against Ghana on Monday June 16 at 4:00 p.m. ET.