Clint 'Deuce' Dempsey: When I used to rap, my brother would say 'Damn, shut up man!'

By now we're sure you're well aware of the former Fulham and Tottenham star's penchant for spitting bars, but now some pesky Statesiders are trying to spark 'beef' between 'Deuce' and American rapper Lupe Fiasco.

Well, sort of. Before the World Cup, Chicago-born star Fiasco – 'music director' of the USMNT for Brazil, which is apparently a thing – appeared on television promising Dempsey some lines on his new album Tetsuo & Youth.

Yet when the album dropped last month, the Seattle Sounders man's dulcet tones were nowhere to be found (Ed Sheeran, though? Straight in). An outrage!

Skip to 6:04 for Lupe Fiasco's broken promises...

And just look at what Grammy Award-winning Fiasco could have won. A week ago, Dempsey appeared on America's Pregame to strut his stuff.

Back in November 2014, FourFourTwo chatted to Deuce about his experiences in 'the game' (the rap one, of course)...

"You know, when I was growing up the first car I had didn’t have a radio in it," he said. "So I would freestyle whenever I would drive, and my younger brother used to always tell me 'damn, shut up man!' But we didn’t have anything to listen to.

"I grew up listening to Houston rap; my friends and I would freestyle over beats. When I went to college I was the new kid, and they rapped – that was part of your initiation. And when I went to MLS, and I was the new kid, they knew I rapped and so that’s what I did.

"That actually allowed me to do one track with Big Hawk for Nike called Don’t Tread before the 2006 World Cup. About three or four months after we did that, he was killed (shot to death in 2006 by an unknown attacker). So that kind of put me off rap a little bit.

"When I went to England, they were talking about it: 'Hey, you’re a part time rapper blah blah' and I was like, 'Nah, I play soccer, I only wanna focus on my soccer.'

"When I came back to the States, the opportunity came up before the 2014 World Cup and I wasn’t sure. But then when I was hurt, in my down time, I just worked on it for fun and it actually became an album.

"I wasn’t really thinking anything of it, it was just for fun, and the proceeds are going towards East Texas Food Banks.

"For me it just to get away during that time when I was hurt in the off-season, just to put my mind on something else. I was frustrated with the fact that my body was breaking down and I was injured, so it was an outlet."