It’s been a while since Terrence Boyd was the most hyped United States national team forward. After making seven appearances in 2012 and providing the assist in the U.S.'s 1-0 win at Mexico on Aug. 15, 2012, he has only played twice in 2013 for his country.
With Jozy Altidore’s summer scoring tear and Aron Jóhannsson choosing to represent the U.S. over Iceland, Boyd has been left on the fringes for a while. He didn’t even get called up for the last round of qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico, when the U.S. clinched its World Cup berth.
That hasn’t deterred Boyd from scoring just one less goal than Landon Donovan since July 27, when the Austrian Bundesliga season started. In 13 appearances for Rapid Vienna, across league, cup and Europa League matches, Boyd has scored six goals.
Boyd broke onto the national team scene in 2012, when he scored two goals against El Salvador in the U.S.'s failed Olympic qualification attempt. Then came his call-up to the match at Azteca Stadium, and the promising young prospect seemed to have cemented a spot on head coach Jürgen Klinsmann’s roster.
Boyd faces a tough challenge for playing time against the goal machine Jóhannsson has become for AZ Alkmaar, but continued success at his own current rate should be enough to get the 22-year-old German-American a spot on the plane to Brazil.