What if our best athletes played soccer?

I'll have my final NBA mock draft posted tomorrow night, so tonight I thought I'd do a short post based on a conversation among my friends from a few nights ago. With the World Cup in full swing, we were talking about the tournament and the U.S. team, and we started to wonder what our side would look like if our best athletes played soccer instead of football, basketball, baseball, etc. This created quite the debate and, in some cases, there really was no wrong answer.

Here is my "dream team," which will be utilizing a 4-4-2 alignment, just like the Americans:

DEFENSE

Adrian Peterson (RB, Vikings) - he would make an awesome outside defender. He is strong, tough, doesn't shy away from contact, and is incredibly fast, so no one would blow by him.

LeBron James (SF, Cavs) - I would put LeBron in the middle, kind of like how the U.S. uses Oguchi Onyewu. He would be there to clear out anything that goes up in the air. He might be a little too tall, but if anyone is athletic enough at his height, it's LeBron.

Derrick Rose (PG, Bulls) - Rose would play in the middle beside LeBron. Not only is Rose strong and quick, but he can jump out of the gym ... er, soccer stadium.

Darrell Revis (CB, Jets) - along with AP, Revis would play on the outside. Revis is the best cover corner in the NFL, so why can't he be the best outside defender in soccer? I think Revis would be awesome.

MIDFIELD

Dwayne Wade (SG, Heat) - Wade would be an outside midfielder. Could you imagine him and LeBron going up for headers on corners and set pieces?

Chris Paul (PG, Hornets) - Paul would play in the middle and be a distributor. There's no doubt that he would lead the team in assists.

Rajon Rondo (PG, Celtics) - Rondo would play alongside Paul in the middle. Rondo's freakish length and athleticism would be perfect for a soccer player. My friends and I all want to see Rondo create some sort of no-look ball fake/back door pass in soccer like he does in basketball.

John Wall (PG, Kentucky) - Wall is one of the sickest athletes in the world. I have no doubt that he would be a soccer rock star. That midfield is so stacked. Could you imagine these guys taking on the world? Ha!

FORWARDS

Chris Johnson (RB, Titans) - CJ would take his 4.24 40-yard dash and toast everybody about four times a game. He's another guy who I'd love to watch run around in the open field for 90 minutes. His gold teeth are just a bonus.

Desean Jackson (WR, Eagles) - another burner up front. I can't imagine another pair of strikers who would be as fast as CJ and Desean.

GOALIE

Andre Johnson (WR, Texans) - take your pick of the bigger NFL wide receivers. You could easily substitute Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall, Larry Fitzgerald, etc., but I like Andre Johnson. He is a sick athlete and has awesome hands. Plus, he's probably the most explosive of the bunch.

COACH

Ray Lewis (LB, Ravens) - the U.S. is known for its toughness (we don't sprawl around on the field after we get tapped on the toe), so Ray-Ray will keep it that way. I'm not sure if they would assign a little kid to hold his hand on the way out of the tunnel, but Ray will have his team "protecting the house."

Okay, so there you go. Who would you choose to be on the U.S. soccer dream team? No current soccer players allowed, by the way.