Clint Dempsey Returns; Charlie Davies Gettting Better

In the wake of Stuart Holden's broken leg suffered in last week's friendly vs. the Netherlands, the amount of injuries to key players on the U.S. National Team had reached such a crisis point where you'd almost have to think Landon Donovan was looking over his shoulder at all times for signs of black cats crossing his path.

Thursday the U.S. received a doubly good shot in the arm with positive updates from a pair of would-be starters at the upcoming World Cup in June as both Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies made progress from their respective injuries.

Dempsey came on as a sub in Fulham's 3-1 loss in Turin to Juventus in the Europa League, while Davies continues to take positive strides in his rehabilitation in France.

Earlier Thursday Davies -- who was injured in a single-car accident in last October -- continued his remarkable recovery from a slew of injuries with a progress report/interview on the FC Sochaux website.

Davies says that's he's back to jogging and inching closer to a full return to training with the team. Late April remains his target-date for a return to action.

"I'm outside, running at a good pace, as far as jogging, cutting, agility and playing with the ball. I'm starting to dribble and trying to get the movements back."

Reading that quote, while encouraging, still makes it seem like there's a long road ahead for Davies to return to full game speed, which is obviously the key issue if he's going to play a role for the U.S. in South Africa.

As stated before, the fact that we're even talking about the possibility of Davies suiting up for the U.S. in June is a minor miracle. Yet leaping to the conclusion that he'll be in the starting XI on June 12 in Rustenberg against England seems, at this juncture, a little presumptuous. Until we see Davies in uniform and the ball at his feet it's impossible to gauge his status as a viable World Cup option.

All U.S. fans can really hope for at this point is that Davies continues to rehab, leaving the door open for what would be one of the best sports stories of the year.

Meanwhile in Turin, Italy, Dempsey took a huge step forward in his return from a knee sprain suffered during a Premier League match with Fulham in mid-January.

The Texas native was named in the Fulham squad that faced Italian giants Juventus in the Europa League Round 16 first leg. Initially, with Fulham trailing by 2-0 and later 3-1 scorelines, it seemed like he'd remain parked next to manager Roy Hodgson on the bench. However in the 60th minute Dempsey took off the tracksuit and came into the game, replacing Simon Davies, as Hodgson looked to press for another valuable away goal to bring back to Craven Cottage for the return leg next week.

Dempsey moved up top, playing forward alongside Bobby Zamora and looked no worse for the wear, playing like his usual self. He jumped for headers and threw his body around. More importantly he didn't play like a guy who many feared might have blown out his entire knee a couple of weeks ago or hadn't seen game action in nearly two months.

The return to action by Dempsey puts another puzzle piece in play for U.S. coach Bob Bradley, who is now forced to constantly juggle his ideal lineup for the World Cup due to the plethora of injured Americans. It's a very fluid situation.

Look at it this way: Dempsey can play either as a forward or on the right side of midfield. That depends, now, on the health of both Holden and Davies. It's a lot of "If this, then that ..." repeated over and over again. And what of Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo, Ricardo Clark and even Jermaine Jones, who, even after receiving his U.S. passport, still hasn't played for FC Shalke 04 this season because of a shin injury.

For now, Dempsey is back on the field where he belongs, crossing at least one name off the U.S. casualty list with the World Cup looming larger and larger on the horizon each day.