Hannover 96 defender Steve Cherundolo says its not difficult to notice that the US National Team pool is quite a bit deeper than when he first dipped his feet in international waters.

The wily right back has seen the team's depth chart expand at the back since he joined the senior side in 1999, a phenomenon he claims can be attributed to the strengthening of the domestic league's talent level.

"There's only four guys who can play," reasoned Cherundolo. "I think now - as opposed to not when I started, but definitely a couple years before that - you had your six defenders, and beyond that there wasn't a whole lot more."

"Now, MLS has added a lot of depth to the National Team program. You look at every team, and can pick one guy who would be ready to play at this level."

Though some might see the swelling number of capable backliners as a threat, the Illinois native takes a different view.

"I think that's the wrong attitude, to say 'I gotta beat that guy or that guy out'," Cherundolo quickly offered. "The goal is to make the team better, and that should be the goal of everyone."

With the USMNT trying to make the jump to the top tier of FIFA teams, he sees the task as a two-part assignment.

"The mental side of it is preparing yourself and believing that you can beat good teams, the top 10 or 20 teams in the world," explained Cherundolo. "The physical side is taking care of the little things, getting better in certain parts of our game - for example, defending as a unit and creating more chances."

The 28-year old will try to help the 'Nats contain a wildly dangerous Brazil outfit on Sunday at Soldier Field. While most observers note the spectacular moments when referring to the Samba Kings, Cherundolo warns that their weekend opponents are much more than the sum of what appears on the highlight reel.

"Of course, they have great players, but they play very disciplined as a team as well," he asserted. "They're tough to break down and they have all that individual quality."

"The keys for us are going to be to play as a team and trust our system. We need to live and die with each other on Sunday."

At the same time, Cherundolo admits that the likes of Kaká, Robinho and Ronaldinho will provide some challenges that cannot be planned for in advance.

"You adapt on the field," he said of their game breaking abilities. "There's some things you just can't prepare for, but we'll be ready for those too."