The world is at Feilhaber's feet

Benny Feilhaber went from being a hero for the U.S. last summer to becoming a bench warmer in England last season. John Biever/SI Jonah Freedman's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Jonah. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jonah Freedman on Twitter

It took a fraction of a second to build Benny Feilhaber up into the Next Big Thing in American soccer. And 11 months to bring him back down to earth.

As the 23-year-old prepares for the Olympics, he finds himself scratching his head at the oddest question: Was the wonder-goal he scored last summer against Mexico the worst thing to happen to him in his young career?

It was a moment of unscripted genius last June that put the young Brazilian-born Californian on the fast track to greatness. In the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup at Chicago's Soldier Field, Feilhaber silenced a pro-Mexico crowd by volleying a 20-yard rocket past goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez, shocking everyone -- including the TV announcers -- and continuing Team USA's dominance against its archrivals South of the Border. (Click here to see it.)

It was perhaps the most important goal scored by any player in a U.S. national-team jersey in more than five years. Thanks to Feilhaber's highlight-reel winner, the U.S. retained its Gold Cup title. That goal seemed to galvanize his long-awaited ascent to stardom.

A month later, Feilhaber put forth a solid performance over three matches in the Copa América in Venezuela despite the U.S.' poor showing. It was the capper on a memorable summer that earned him a $6 million move to the English Premier League. It seemed as if Feilhaber was finally making good on the promise he showed as U.S. youth-teamer, a guy who, along with players like Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore, was to become the young backbone of the national team for years to come.

"I was on top of the world last summer," recalled Feilhaber last week at the U.S. Olympic team's final camp in Palo Alto, Calif., before jetting off to China. "I felt like I couldn't do anything wrong. My confidence was so high. Every time I stepped on the field, I felt like could bring something special to the team."

But over the next year, Feilhaber's sky-high confidence slowly whittled away. His move to newly promoted English club Derby County was delayed by endless paperwork. Then, when he finally did make the squad, he wasn't given the opportunity to crack the first team and earned minimal playing time. Over the 2007-08 season, he logged 10 appearances -- all but one as a substitute -- as Derby set a new low in Premiership futility: one win and a record-low 11 points in 38 games.

"It was really frustrating," Feilhaber said. "The No. 1 one thing you want to do is play, and if you're not playing, then you're wondering what you're doing there. We were losing most of our games and I still didn't get the opportunity to play."

Little by little, all the momentum Feilhaber had built up was slowly disappearing. It was a tough time, he admits, as he was quickly brought down from the highs of the summer. His move from a reduced role at Germany's Hamburg to the bright lights of the Premier League was supposed to be the next step in his promising career.

But it soon became clear to him that he wasn't as far along as he'd hoped. Each inch of progress was met with a foot's worth of setbacks. Just when former Derby manager Billy Davies seemed ready to give Feilhaber his chance, he was fired in the wake of the club's dismal season. A new manager in Paul Jewell came in, and Feilhaber had to prove himself all over again.

"Then the whole process starts over," he recalled. "It seems like I hit the worst bumps along the road. I'm not sure I ever fit in to the style of play they wanted at Derby."

Luckily for Feilhaber, his believers back home with Team USA didn't give up on him. Even as he struggled to find first-team action, U.S. national-team coach Bob Bradley and assistant Peter Nowak (the Olympic team coach) kept close eyes on him and kept calling him into national-team camps.

"When he came into the Houston camp [for a friendly with Mexico this past February], you could see his confidence was down," remembers Bradley. "The whole thing had clearly taken a toll on him."

It's always difficult for a national-team coach to call in a player who isn't seeing first-team action, no matter how good he is. The question then becomes, can this player still contribute if he's not on his game? And if you don't call him, do you risk eroding his self-confidence even more?

"Bob let me know he knew it was a tough time for me," Feilhaber said. "He and Peter gave me good advice. They told me to keep fighting."

Feilhaber knew a spot on the Olympic team was still his to lose. But it would get worse before it got better. He tore the meniscus in his right knee in May during a U.S. Under-23 match against Turkey in Toulon, France. He needed arthroscopic surgery and faced a rehab assignment that put his involvement in the Games in doubt.

"That was the lowest point of the entire year," he said. "But it was also the turning point. I felt like I was seeing more clearly what it really took to get back into the national-team picture."

Feilhaber had just enough time to get through the rehab process and make the cut for the Olympic squad. He went home to Irvine, Calif., and worked his tail off to get match-fit again. Now, he says, his knee is feeling good and he's ready to take on the world again. "The whole process gave me a new perspective," he said.

Perspective is the world you hear over and over again from Bradley when it comes to Feilhaber. "His pure talent, his comfort level on the ball -- that's easy to see," Bradley says. "But to try to get him to understand that, when you're playing at a high level, it's got to be more than just that. There's a maturity you develop, not only in games, but as a person."

Feilhaber is keenly aware that in a locker room full of young guys with something to prove, he has perhaps the most riding on these Olympics. A good performance will earn him another shot with a top-level club. That will make the biggest difference as to where he plays next season: back in the Premiership or the German Bundesliga, or perhaps a return to the U.S. to play in Major League Soccer for the first time (he says he has multiple options on the table).

"I know myself and I know what I can do," he said. "I'm really looking forward to this to prove it to myself, my coaches and my teammates that I am the player they thought I was a year ago."