Kelly Whiteside

USA TODAY Sports

SAN FRANCISCO — As Jurgen Klinsmann walked onto the field at Candlestick Park before the start the U.S. team's open training session, someone from the stands shouted, "Where's Landon?"

At a park famous for its wind and fog, the U.S. team enters Tuesday's exhibition game against Azerbaijan in a state that mirrors the weather. With the Donovan controversy still swirling, the U.S. team hopes for some calm and clarity as it plays its first of three send-off games before leaving for Brazil.

With Donovan breaking the MLS scoring record with two goals for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, how much will the U.S.'s all-time leading goal scorer be missed? Perhaps that hazy question will begin to be answered Tuesday night.

Striker Jozy Altidore has emerged from the fog of discontent following a trying season with Sunderland in the English Premier League, according to Klinsmann. "We're already got a couple good answers from Jozy the last few weeks here," the U.S. coach said. "He's sharp, he's hungry and he's scoring. With every day of work, he puts himself into a better position with more and more confidence, so we're going to build on that."

With the national team last year, Altidore was on fire, scoring eight goals in 14 appearances. He also scored 31 goals in 41 games for AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch league last year. Then came the drought with Sunderland and the sagging confidence that followed.

"Psychologically, you have to leave the entire season behind," Klinsmann said. "You have to go out there and be hungry and once you get that opportunity you have to put that ball in the net. He's on a very good path."

For the Americans to have a chance in Brazil, they need Altidore to find the back of the net. The last time an American forward scored a goal in the World Cup, Barry Bonds was still hitting home runs, Tigers Woods was still winning Masters and Shaquille O'Neal was MVP of the NBA Finals.

During the 12 years since an American forward has scored in a World Cup, strikers have come and gone. But the drought has remained. The last goal by a forward came during the 2002 World Cup in Korea against Mexico. Brian McBride's go-ahead goal in the second-round match helped the Americans advance to the quarterfinals in their best showing since 1930.

Since then the U.S. has scored eight World Cup goals -- seven by midfielders Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley, plus an own-goal against Italy. So will the streak end in Brazil?

"Why do you think he made Clint a forward?" McBride joked. Klinsmann has listed Dempsey as one of the team's four forwards. McBride, whose last World Cup was in 2006 and was recently elected into the Hall of Fame, said he doesn't read too much into the stat.

"If we didn't get out of our group in 2010, I would say it wasn't that big of a stat," he said Monday. "If you're playing with a one forward scenario, you're not going to get that many opportunities. You want forwards to score goals, but it's more important to perform well and get out of the group."

With Donovan gone, and his jersey number – the iconic No. 10 – perhaps reassigned, the team will likely move on quicker than most fans. A few goals against Azerbaijan will help speed the process.

In Altidore, the USA has a strong forward who will be key against the physical defenses the Americans will face in the first round in games against Ghana, Portugal and Germany. "He's a big player for us," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "We have to ride him."

Dempsey, the captain, will also be counted on to score, whether from up front or out wide. Like Altidore, he is coming off a forgettable stint in the Premiership – he didn't score in seven matches during a winter loan with Fulham – but he regained his touch with the Seattle Sounders, scoring eight goals in nine games.

Then there's Chris Wondolowski, who has scored goals at a dizzying rate in MLS play and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. "He's greedy in a very good way," Howard said. "He likes his goals."

Aron Johannsson, who was born in Alabama and raised in Iceland, brings a quality to the front line that the others don't, whether the ball is at his feet or whether he's running onto the ball in space. "Aron is a player who is very unpredictable. An opponent will not know what he has in mind," Klinsmann said. "He sometimes thinks two or three moves ahead. … He's a very interesting kid who will only get better from now going forward."

In 2002, when McBride scored that goal, Johannsson was an 11-year-old, playing for his youth team in Reykjavik, Iceland. "Wow," Johannsson said before the start of training. "That was a long time ago."