Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu is putting his club commitments ahead of the USA's World Cup hopes. While the player is thrilled at the prospect of playing on such a stage, he has targeted domestic success with Rangers as the perfect preparation for the World Cup.
"I am trying not to think about it right now," he told the Glasgow Evening Times. "The most important thing for me is to get myself into the Rangers team and make sure that I am as fit as I possible can be.
"It could work for me two ways - I could go to the World Cup and feel the benefit of the fact I had six months with no games or I could get there and feel that I could do with being a bit sharper.
"But right now my priority is Rangers. The best preparation for me would be to get to the World Cup with a few more medals in my locker.
"That is how I would like to go to South Africa and that means that the next five months are about working as hard as I possible can.
"The way the team has been playing means that I know I am going to have to play well to get into the side and stay there. The results have been good, and they have been good with a lot of players out.
"The guys who have stepped in and have really stepped up to the plate and it is now up to the rest of us to show that we are capable of performing to the same level."