John Anthony Brooks and Jerome Kiesewetter were close friends growing up in Berlin, where they quietly harbored the same dream.
As dual-national, German-born biracial children of U.S. soldiers stationed in Berlin, both knew they had a choice of playing soccer for Germany or the U.S. And both pledged their allegiance to the U.S. before finishing grade school.
"We decided long ago, back when we were about 10 or 11 years old, that it would be our dream to one day play together for the United States," said Brooks, a towering defender for Hertha Berlin in the German Bundesliga.