Benny Feilhaber sheepishly admits he wasn't all that heartbroken when Chicago was passed over for Rio de Janeiro in the bidding war over the 2016 Olympics.

Feilhaber, a midfielder on the U.S. national team, was born in Rio, lived there until age 6, speaks fluent Portuguese and much of his family remains there -- which might explain his knack for elegant footwork.

``Of course, Chicago is a great city and would have been a good host, but this is so special for Brazil, and for South America, which has never hosted an Olympics,'' said Feilhaber, who was in Miami all week training for a World Cup qualifier at Honduras on Saturday. ``By hosting the 2014 World Cup, and now the Olympics, Brazil will raise its status around the world, get the economic help it needs, and hopefully, Rio will become a safer more global city.''

Most fans are unaware of Feilhaber's Brazilian roots. His surname is not Portuguese. It is Austrian-Jewish. His paternal grandfather was 14 when his family fled Austria in 1938 and moved to Brazil to avoid Nazi persecution. Feilhaber's father and mother were born in Brazil. Although his mother is not Jewish, Feilhaber maintains strong ties to his Jewish heritage, celebrates Jewish holidays, and in 2005 went to Israel to represent the United States in the Maccabiah Games.

``I definitely think of myself as half-Jewish and am proud of that part of my background,'' he said.

Ironically, a few years ago, the Austrian national team made inquiries to see if he might be interested in playing for them. Feilhaber was intrigued. Imagine the grandson of an Austrian Jew who fled that country ending up wearing its national jersey. But he was raised in Southern California and considers himself American, so he opted for the red, white and blue.

Feilhaber, 24, could play a key role Saturday against Honduras, as starting winger Clint Dempsey is out because of a sprained shoulder. Feilhaber has been playing well this season for Aarhus in Denmark, and has impressed with the U.S. team, as well.

``Benny has had a good stretch,'' U.S. coach Bob Bradley said. ``He is a skillful midfielder with a very good eye for making the final pass and creating scoring chances. His game continues to impress.''

Said U.S. veteran defender Frankie Hejduk: ``He's got flair, and great field vision. You want to give him the ball. As a defender, you want a guy you can give the ball to and know he's going to do good things with it.''

That Feilhaber evolved into a world-class player is remarkable, considering he was not highly recruited out of high school. He walked on at UCLA in 2003 and ended up playing 16 games that season. In December 2004, he was a late addition to the Under-20 national team. A year later, he was named U.S. Soccer's Young Male Athlete of the Year.

``There was no question Benny was highly intelligent and a very gifted player, but he had some attitude issues that probably kept him from being as highly recruited as he might have been,'' said Barry Bandaruk, who coached Feilhaber at Northwood High School in Irvine, Calif. ``Let's just say he got his share of yellow cards. He had to learn to control his temper and be more of a team player, and once he did that, his career took off.''

Feilhaber got his big break at the 2005 Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, where he held his own against Argentina's Lionel Messi. His silky moves caught the attention of European scouts, and he signed with Hamburg of the German Bundesliga. He made his first start during the 2006 season, and came on as a reserve in a Champions League match against Arsenal. He moved to Derby County of the English Premier League in 2007, but didn't get much playing time, so he moved to Aarhus in 2008.

His biggest moment in a U.S. uniform was his 20-yard, full-volley goal to beat Mexico in the 2007 Gold Cup final.

``I'm living my dream,'' Feilhaber said. ``I've been playing soccer since I was 2. That's what little kids do in Brazil. I would love to play against Brazil in the World Cup. That's the only day I wouldn't root for Brazil.''

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