With Clint Dempsey's World Cup Status Known, How Are Davies and Onyewu?

United States Soccer fans got a major sigh of relief on Jan. 19 when it was revealed that midfielder Clint Dempsey would not miss the upcoming World Cup due to an injury to his posterior cruciate knee ligament suffered against Blackburn on Jan. 17.

Now that one of the injuries on the United States' team has been clarified, the injury question will be directed onto two other starters on the United States side.

Those two players are Forward Charlie Davies and Defender Oguchi Onyewu, who were injured on Oct. 13 and 14, respectively, and are key starters for the US National Team.

For both of these players, 2009 was a breakout season. Davies was able to secure a starting spot on the team after a great Confederations Cup, and Onyewu was able to be a rock in the US defense in the same tournament, which earned him a three-year contract with AC Milan.

Also, both players were key contributors to the US side as it was able to clinch its sixth-consecutive World Cup berth with a 3-2 win over Honduras before the final qualifier against Costa Rica in Washington DC.

The morning before the final World Cup qualifier, Davies was in a car with a female passenger and a driver before crashing into a metal railing on the George Washington Parkway in Virginia. The accident killed the passenger and caused Davies to receive a lacerated bladder, a broken right tibia and femur, a fractured elbow, and facial injuries.

It was determined Davies would be out between six to 12 months, even though all of the major news outlets in the United States neglected to follow up on the report of Dr. Dan Kalbac (the man who helped with the surgery).

According to Dr. Kalbac, Davies' would be able to return earlier than expected due to his excellent fitness level.

The Davies accident shook the US Soccer community, as plenty of emails and tweets were sent to Davies, and the US squad played its final World Cup qualifier in honor of its teammate.

During that final qualifier, the US went down 2-0 early, but was able to fight back to make it a 2-1 game. Then, Onyewu went down while going up for a header in the 82nd minute and had to be taken off on a stretcher and the US had to play the rest of the match with 10 men.

Despite that, the US was able to draw on a late Jonathan Bornstein goal to make the score 2-2, and give the USA the top overall spot in CONCACAF.

Afterwards, it was revealed that Onyewu ruptured his patellar tendon and would be out for three to four months.

After both Davies and Onyewu had their surgeries, both went to train together in Delaware, where it has been reported both are making incredible progress in their quests to make the 2010 World Cup roster.

On Dec. 4, Davies gave an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schapp in which Davies said he would be running by March, and the doctors claimed he would be in shape for the US World Cup roster.

In early January, Davies was able to travel to Los Angeles to meet some of the members of the US National Team during training camp.

Meanwhile, Onyewu has also made substantial progress in recovering from his ruptured patellar tendon, and has said he expects to be training with Milan sometime in March.

For US Soccer fans, this is all great news on the progress of Davies and Onyewu, and American soccer fans know how important these players are for the US to have success in South Africa this summer.

Obviously, they both will face problems in having not seen top competition before South Africa due to their injuries. Their spots could possibly be put in jeopardy by Bob Bradley because of their lack of playing time.

Will Davies and Onyewu make the World Cup? That is a question I wish I could answer, but lets hope that Davies and Onyewu will have two of the 23 American roster spots in South Africa in June.