Landon Donovan admits the USA players cannot wait for the World Cup to begin.

Although the provisional squad for the finals in South Africa has not yet been named, Donovan says there is plenty of excitement among the American players and they cannot wait to get the tournament under way.

"We are obviously still a little unsure as to how our roster will shape up because of some key injuries (the likes of Oguchi Onyewu and Charlie Davies are expected to be sidelined) but we are all very excited for June to get here and to get started," he said in an interview on FIFA.com.

Donovan said some recent injuries have helped the team in regards to other players being tested in unfamiliar positions and said it was reasonable to target at least progression to the second phase of the competition.

"We have had no choice recently but to play some guys in positions that they aren't used to playing and I actually think that will help us during the World Cup. It always helps to have players that are comfortable playing in a lot of different positions," he added.

"The expectations are simple: advance out of our group to the knockout rounds and go from there. We think that is a realistic goal."