When the World Cup groups were announced last December, many pitied the United States' position in the competition and the opponents they would have to take on in the biggest tournament in the world. Afterall, who would expect the Americans to compete with the likes of Ghana, Portugal and Germany?

Ghana has dominated the Americans in two straight World Cups. Portugal has the best player in the world. And Germany is arguably the deepest team in the entire world in any position.

Despite what seems to be a tenuous circumstance for the Americans, Landon Donovan is confident that the team can surprise at the tournament this summer.

"I think the experience that we have now far exceeds the experience that we ever had with any team, and that lines up to give us a real chance," Donovan said Thursday, according to ESPN. "We are confident in how we play. We are confident in what we do. Our guys have had enough experiences against all of these players, against teams like Ghana, Portugal, Germany. ... We feel confident that we can get results against them, and that's a nice feeling going into a World Cup."

"Our expectations, like most teams, are to get out of the group," he added. "We are aware that we have a difficult group, but the expectation is that we can do it and we are going to try to get out of our group, just like most teams in this World Cup. That is the objective. That is the goal. But we feel good about where we are at."

Donovan was not a member of the U.S. national team at the start of 2013 and had to fight his way back on the squad through a tremendous performance in the Gold Cup. He will not be playing in his fourth straight tournament and will hope that his performance resembles his clutch performance in 2010 when he scored a last gasp goal to get the U.S. through to the knockout round as group winners.

Is Donovan right in his assessment that the U.S. stands a chance? Or is he overly optimistic?