Real Salt Lake youngster Luis Gil is not getting carried away with talk linking him as a possible World Cup bolter.
The 20-year old attacking midfielder, who made his USA debut against South Korea in early February, could be in line for a possible call-up for this summer's tournament in Brazil.
Former USA U17, U18, U20 and U23 international Gil had a career-best season in MLS last year, starting 30 of 34 matches, and could quite possibly be in the mind of US boss Juergen Klinsmann.
However, Gil told the Salt Lake Tribune that he is only focusing on club soccer and improving his game before thinking about the national team again.
"I know coming up with national teams and stuff like that there's hype, but coming into this league I feel like (former RSL boss) Jason (Kreis) kept it off of me," Gil said.
"He kept the expectations off of me and didn't let me be thrown into the fire right away.
"You can be mentioned (with the national team), but it doesn't really count until you actually get there so that's going to be up to me."
As for his own game, Gil says his defensive mindset has improved out of sight since joining RSL in 2010.
"The game's changing a lot and you need a lot of defensive work now," Gil added.
"Me coming into this league, I would say I had zero of it. Coming up with youth teams, I was an attacking midfielder and you just have one job: Attack."
