Photo by Hunter Dorton/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – When U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann revealed his starting lineup to his players, Danny Williams was in shock.

Williams, the 22-year-old son of an American serviceman and German mother, was included in the starting XI that would take on Honduras at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday night, something that may not have even seemed possible just a month ago.

"Of course I was surprised, because it's the first time I'm here in this national team," said Williams. "It was really nice when he told me I would play, I would be in the starting XI."

Williams may have been surprised and honored when he found out he'd start, but nerves and first-game jitters, which so often happen, really kicked in for him as kickoff drew near.

"I had goosebumps, because when the national anthem was playing I felt like, 'Oh wow, this is my first time for the U.S. national team,' and I really enjoyed it," said Williams.

Normally a central midfielder or fullback, Williams was deployed in an unfamiliar role against Los Catrachos. Klinsmann put the TSG 1899 Hoffenheim player on the right side of his 4-1-3-2 formation, meaning Williams would be a focal point of the Americans' attack.

During his 65 minutes on the wet field, Williams didn't overwhelm. He was active in the early moments but became less involved as the Americans started finding success on the opposite flank with Brek Shea's surges forward and Timmy Chandler's overlapping runs.

Williams did, however, show flashes and glimpses of a technical player capable of doing more once he gets more comfortable with his surroundings.

In the 11th minute, he whipped in a hard cross that found the foot of Clint Dempsey. In another moment in the first half, Williams was closed down into a tight space, but he still managed to shield the ball away from his defender long enough to play a nifty pass off to a teammate.

Williams also had a couple of looks on goal, but his header in the first half was blocked by a defender and his open chance in the second half was saved well by goalkeeper Donis Escobar.

"He was a bit nervous maybe in the first 15, 20 minutes," said Klinsmann. "I told him before the game, 'Don't worry, there's nothing you can do wrong today. It's your first cap. You can only win today,' and then he kind of got into the game, he got into the rhythm and he did the right things, he came down the endline. You can see his technical abilities and also his strength and nastiness in one-against-one challenges."

For Williams, his first game for the United States caps off a wild few weeks that have seen him change from SC Freiburg to Hoffenheim, get his U.S. passport and get called up to the U.S. team.

"Everything is like a dream right now," said Williams. "I (haven't had) the time to think about it so much because after my move to Hoffenheim, everything went really quickly. I'm enjoying everything right now."