U.S. national team player Mix Diskerud said he feels the honor of wearing Landon Donovan's No. 10 is only temporary and expects to play alongside Donovan again down the road with the squad.
"For me it is just a number. I am playing for what is in front of the jersey not what is in the back or my name," Diskerud said. "When it comes to Landon I feel like I am just borrowing it and we'll play again together someday and he'll get it back because he has more caps than me."
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Diskerud and Aron Johannsson, a pair of second-half substitutes raised in Scandinavia, scored to lift a heavy-legged United States over Azerbaijan 2-0 on Tuesday night in the first of three World Cup tuneups for the Americans. It was Diskerud's third international goal
"It's an honor. A lot of great players have been wearing that No. 10 for the U.S. previously," Diskerud said. "Azerbaijan they have had some good results previously before this game. Of course we wanted a few goals in the first half, but it's alright that they come in the second."
The U.S. needed a boost from the bench after captain Clint Dempsey was scratched just before kickoff because of a sore left groin. But the 14th-ranked Americans had trouble breaking down No. 85 Azerbaijan.
Diskerud, born in Oslo to a father from Norway and mother from Arizona who met in college at Arizona State, entered in the 71st and scored four minutes later off Brad Davis' free kick.
With the ball high in the box, Diskerud headed it down to Michael Bradley, whose shot was cleared off the goal line by Elvin Yunuszade. Diskerud then banged the ball in with a right-footed shot 6 yards for his third international goal in 18 caps.
"It deflected off somebody and then I got the rebound. Easy job," Diskerud said. "I got tackled exactly when I was going to shoot, and I was just laying down on the ground in agony."
He was wearing the No. 10 freed up when Donovan was cut from the roster last Thursday.
For Diskerud, this chance has been a shot at redemption of sorts on the international soccer stage, after the disappointment of not playing in the Olympic soccer tournament two years ago stuck with him. He was part of that U.S. team that lost its chance for a spot in the London Games with a late-game collapse during qualifying.
"You grow a lot from certain experiences, and definitely one like that, because that was a goal in my life to reach the Olympics," Diskerud said. "Another goal was to reach the World Cup, so now I'm part of that."
Diskerud was given his nickname by his mother -- his full name is Mikkel Morgenstar Palssonn Diskerud.
"When I was a little kid, I always ran around the house, and my mom said I was like a mixer," Diskerud said ahead of his U.S. national team debut in an exhibition at South Africa four years ago. "When I was a kid, I was on a team called Frigg and there were two guys named Mikkel, so one had to get a nickname. I got Mix, and it stuck."
He had dual citizenship, enabling him to play on youth national teams from both Norway and the U.S.
Klinsmann said he's not superstitious about No. 10, and that Diskerud earned the honor for how far he has come since the Olympic near miss.
"Mix is coming from a group of guys that we had real trouble with getting to the next level, and I mean our Olympic team that was supposed to go to London," Klinsmann said. "There were a few guys, very special players coming with that team, and for whatever reason it just didn't work out the way it should have worked out. We lost a few ones on that path that should actually be part of this group now, this inner-circle group. ... All these very, very talented kids, they fell in a hole, in a deep one."
In Olympic qualifying, limited to players under 23, the Americans led 3-2 and were seconds from advancing to the semifinals when they surrendered the tying goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The 3-3 draw against El Salvador kept the U.S. from the semifinals, only the second time since 1976 the U.S. failed to qualify.
"Because of what happened there, we desperately now from the senior level look at that generation and we want them to come through and we want them to grow into the senior team and they struggled with that because of that huge disappointment," Klinsmann said. "Now Mix, he kind of shook it off and continued his path in Scandinavia and came very strongly in the Gold Cup last summer. ... He's already a little bit ahead of the curve. He obviously has a great vision on the field, a great passing technique, he's calm on the ball. He has a lot of elements in his game. It's nice to see him come in and make an impact."
Diskerud started all three games and had two assists against Cuba in the Olympic qualifying opener. He is the only player on the World Cup roster who appeared in Olympic qualifying. Two other teammates, Terrence Boyd and Joe Corona, were among the seven players cut last week by Klinsmann.
"Of course you go through ups and downs," Diskerud said. "Right now is definitely an up."
Goalkeeper Tim Howard was thrilled to see someone like Diskerud come through in the first of three World Cup tuneups.
"He's worked hard," Howard said. "He's got his opportunity to show what he can do and hopefully he can continue to do more of that the next couple games."
Next up for the United States is a match Sunday against Turkey at Harrison, N.J., followed by a game with Nigeria six days later in Jacksonville, Fla. Then the Americans head to Brazil for their seventh straight World Cup appearance and first-round matches against Ghana, Portugal and Germany.
NOTES: Klinsmann expects F Clint Dempsey to play Sunday; the U.S. captain was a late scratch against Azerbaijan because of a sore groin. "It should be no problem at all for Turkey," Klinsmann said. ... Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts was ready to move forward to his scouting job as a special adviser for Klinsmann. He will see the U.S. opponents in Group G: Ghana, Portugal and Germany. He liked what the Americans did Tuesday, saying, "They played very powerful."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.