Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT This guy should never be called in again. He'll never bleed for the shirt, like the others do.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Yeah, like Freddy Adu who threatened to play for Ghana. Or Dooley, who was born in Germany. Or Regis, born in Martinique, who played for the US because he married an American. Preki? Or Earnie Stewart, who's dad is American but spent most of his youth and adulthood in the Netherlands. Stewart... I still can't figure out why we gave him one cap, let alone a hundred more Come to think of it, wasn't Joe Gaetjens born in Haiti and never actually became an American citizen?
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT It was pretty common at the time...I know there was at least one guy (keeper i think) from America who impressed on a Celtic tour in the US way back and played for the Scotland national team, but didn't get called up anymore because of the public outcry
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT It's hard to take this quote seriously since the US, ya know, came first and gave him his first call-ups and he responded by playing for Norway.... AGAINST the US. I don't blame the kid for trying to create leverage but don't make disinguenous statements when there are facts showing they aren't true.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT No guarantee he'll ever play for either team at the senior level. Norway may be in a pretty bad rut, but if it's one thing we have lots of right now it's talented young midfielders. Quite frankly if Diskerud becomes good enough to beat out some of the young midfielders in Norway like Grindheim, Strømstad, Haugen, Tettey, Skjelbred to name a few then he'll be a damned good player. In that case, this debate may have some meaning.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT I believe you are absolutely right Matt. We've had some recent problems with certain players about which country is "their country" and we generally lose more than we win in those discussions. Diskerud seems to be a much clearer case than some of those. He's a Norwegian with US eligibility.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT No. If you play in an "official" FIFA youth match, you are provisionally tied to that country. Before the age of 21 you get a _one-time_ chance to switch countries if you so choose, provided you were already eligible for that country when you received that cap (this latter part is why Subotic couldn't play for Germany). As long as you've only played friendlies (of any kind), you're currently free to switch back and forth. Obviously there are practical limits to doing so though. So Diskerud isn't tied to anybody, and if he becomes a Japanese citizen down the line, he could play for them too.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT The U.S, is in a similar situation, it is the position of our greatest depth as well (except for goalkeeper maybe).
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Those guys with the forward slashes through their o's are always beasts.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Most countries in Europe do not have a U20 NT, or if they have, it's very low priority, because they do not play any Euro or WC qualifiers... The reason for this is that it's the U21 NTs that qualify for the Olympics by playing UEFA U21 Championship qualifiers, while the European U19 Championship also serves as qualifiers for the FIFA U20 WC (though it's hardly even noticed), so ther is really no interest or need for U20 NT's in Europe... Just like ther are no U23 NTs in Europe, because it's the U21s that play qualifiers for the Olympics.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT You are right, I forgot about that quirk. However, the European U19 Championships are really the same thing as the CONCACAF U20 tournament just, a year earlier. It's the same group of players ('89s and younger). The distinction of U19 vs U20 simply reflects when the qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup takes place.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT To be honest, in Europe the European U21 Championship is by far the biggest and most important youth tournament ther is... and by many it's also regarded to be more or atleast equally important as the Olympics, while the U19 Championship is a much less important tournament and the U20 WC only regarded to be a sidekick to the European U19 Championships. So while the U20 WC probably is a big tournament for countries outside Europe, then it's of little interest in Europe, which is probably also why Europe only get 6 spots.. .
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Fair enough. I was only pointing out that the only country that can call him up for the next big youth tournament is the US because Norway didn't qualify. The U-20 WC isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes dual nationality guys are ambivalent enough that they'll jump on the first serious opportunity they get. Of course, we don't even know if Diskerud is good enough to make our U-20 roster. There's really no way to know, although he racked up nice stats for both the US and Norway in U-20 friendly matches.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT ??... According to the Norwegian FAs official website, then Diskerud has never played for the Norwegian U20s (They dont have a U20 NT at the moment) or the Norwegian U19 NT for that matter... He only seem to have won 3 caps for the Norwegian U18 NT (G18), one of them being a friendly against the US : http://www.fotball.no/t1.aspx?p=51831&x=1&a=226988 http://www.fotball.no/search.asp?cl=x&ar=x&pe=x&pa=x&an=x&xStr=mikkel+diskerud&1.x=17&1.y=11 .
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Yeah as far as i know he played some games for the Norwegian U18 and the US U20 (maybe it was only one game)
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Sorry, I meant, where is Sonny Guadarrama playing now? Mikkel Diskerud (Mix) is on the rooster for Norway in their G-19 (U 20) against Italy in Sicilly on March 11, 2009, another "friendly". This squad recently defeated both Sweden and Poland in "friendlies". Their U 20 NT consists of players from Everton, Vaalerenga, Rosenborg, Arsenal, Udinese, Manchester United and Monaco FC in addition to Mix from Stabaek. (see www.fotball.no) Diskerud won with Stabaeks U 20 the norwegian championship, where they defeated Viking (Stavanger) in the final in November, and where he scored one. He also scored the opener when Stabaeks A-squad took on Fredrikstad in a pre season match between reigning nr. 1 and the runner up in premier league (Tippeligaen) at La Manga in Spain a month ago. Stabaek won that game with a one goal margin (3-2, or 2-1). All of his four grandparents live in Arizona, but both his parents now reside in Oslo, Norway. Mix is said to be a friend of Troy Perkins that plays Tippeliga for Vaalerenga.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Interesting! Arizona to Norway. Strange! Thanks for the info.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Taking Mikkel's lead, I am publicly announcing that I will play on a "first come, first served" basis for any national team that will call me up for a WC qualifier. I promise that I will bleed for the shirt, but I'd prefer not to actually bleed on the shirt, since I plan to keep it as a souvenir. I mean, where else am I going to get my own game-worn national team shirt from some country I may never have even heard of at this point? The last thing I want is blood on it ... or mud ... or sweat ... or grass stains. OK, so if anyone needs me, I'll be waiting by the phone.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT I'd say he did quite well by the U.S. when he wore the shirt. Three assists is pretty darned good. I'm sure that Rongen knew that situation was 50-50 or worse when he called the kid. It was a speculative call up. It could've easily been the other way around, with Rongen calling him once and never choosing him again. Both sides learned something the experience. No skin off anyone's nose really. Who's place on the field did you see him taking anyway?
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT I think SeaOtter's reply is probably more general than it is directed to me, but just in case, let me say that my post was totally meant as a joke. Personally, I don't get bent out of shape about whether someone is worthy to wear the US jersey (or any other) based on their apparent dual national loyalties. If someone is eligible, good enough, makes the choice, and gives their best effort when called up, that's enough for me. I could care less if he played against the US once in a friendly. I was really poking fun at posters on this thread, not making a commentary on Mikkel Diskerud's worthiness for the US. Some people will probably consider me unworthy to be a fan of the US at this point, but whatever. In any case, it sounds to me like he'd be competing for a connecting midfield spot, and we're as deep there as anywhere except keeper IMO. But if the US calls him up and he accepts, the deeper the pool, the better off we are. And I'll support him. Unless, of course, I get that call from some other country and I'm playing against him. ;-)
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT The kid was born and raise Scandavia, I doubt he lived in the US, kid is a viking and should play his viking team.
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT Hold on there! We've just been told this kid has one U.S. parent and his grandparents all live in Arizona. For all we know this kid could have spent some time as a child in the United States. And his parents "now reside in Oslo" which means that they used to live in the States too? (Maybe) This kid may legitimately feel both American and Norwegian. He needs to take his time to make his decision. He's only 18. (10/2/90) Choose USA Mikkel!!!
Re: Mikkel Diskerud can choose US or Norway NT How do you know this info? Do you know Mikkel? Did he live in the U.S. as a child? Or did he visit here often? Thanks!