Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich As an American who's first peramanent US residency was my freshman dorm room...kindly go f yourself. Ok...slight exageration. I left when I was 10 months old, and lived here for a year when I was 8 and again when I was 12...but I've known plenty of American citizens who've spent their entire lives living abroad.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Born here, lived here later, went to college here. Not a problem. Suit up.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich DoH!!! My bad, and good catch for spotting my error and pointing it out.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich C'mon John, don't hide. If you were coach you wouldn't want him on your team, is that right?
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Correct, if the facts are as I have assumed. If the guy has spent some time in the U.S., that would be different.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Is his father Steven Johnson (former CofC b-ball player, who is married to a German, and has lived in Germ. since middle 80's)? If so, he might think of himself as American moreso than German. Steven owns a home in Chas. and spends his off-season here. He lives, I swear, next door to my cousin. Hell, how many "Johnson" b-ball players can there be in Germany?
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Sweet...Now that I've got your approval, could you provide some talent?
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich But this is where you get into a really, really gray area. Because you can't define "sufficiently" American. I was born in Germany and spent my first four years there. Then I moved to the United States for two years when I moved back, living in Italy until I was 15. Finally moved back to the U.S. and went to high school there. Went to University in France and Ireland but the only passport I have is an American one though I was eligible for Irish, German and French. Am I sufficiently American for your team? Is Marcel Desailly sufficiently French even though he didn't move to France until he was 7 and is only French by adoption? Or Chris Armas? Or Maestroeni? Llamosa? Sorry, but your theories are crap about the very country that accepts the tired, the poor the hungry, etc...
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Yeah right on, only American BORN players. And while we're at let's make sure they're all white protestants of northern and western European decent. Nation of immigrants my ass.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich The whole thing is gray once you start talking about people playing for countries that they haven't lived it. The line must be drawn somewhere but where? Thus, gray. This young man was turned away at Ellis Island? This is not a moral issue. Nobody is denying this guy the right to live in the U.S. It is a practical, soccer-related issue for determining how internatinoal teams are formed. You think the current rules -- the ones that permit me to play for Iceland even though the last person in my family to set foot in Iceland did so in 1903 -- are reasonable? OK, fine. I do not. I am no more Icelandic than DaMarcus Beasley is. Might as well let him play for Iceland, too. Hell, let's open it up and let the Brazilian C team play for Iceland. They'd do pretty well.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Good find, Dave. As for the 'is he American?' argument, I think anyone who qualifies for US citizenship & thinks of himself as an American is fine by me. Doesn't really matter to me where he was born/raised. For all we know, this kid may think of himself as German or, like, Westberg think of himself as American. The only people I have a problem with are the opportunists like Macken for Ireland & IMHO Whitbread for US who think of themselves as something else (in both cases English) but play for their adopted country because they don't have a realistic shot at playing for their homeland. No, I can't read Zak's mind, but every time he's asked about playing for the US he says something along the lines of "the US are an up & coming nation & they're (we're) going places". That's what you say when you join Middlesbrough. How about "I can't wait to play for my country"?
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Allow me to be PC and point out that Puerto Rico is part of the US.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich if he thinks of himself as American is fine by me too, does he ? anyway thanks to Dave for this find and pointing him out to us, great job if the kids doesn't have an american passport/citizenship yet, once he turns 18 there will be a 3 year process to get his citizensip, do we even know if he ever stepped foot in USA,
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Yes as he's explained. You lived here. That's basically his criteria. I disagree. I'm greedy. I'd take Ronaldinho if somehow they'd let us have him.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich I take exception to the criticism of Whitbread. First of all, he was BORN IN HOUSTON!!! Last I checked, Houston was part of the United States, ergo, he was BORN a US CITIZEN. How much more mer'kin does it get than being born in Texas? Case closed. It is not Zak's fault his parents weren't from the US and it damn sure wasn't his fault that his parents moved him from the US and never brought him back. What was he supposed to do, climb out of the Baby Bjorn at Bush International and crawl back to his home in Houston? He's still a US citizens because it is, literally, his birthright. Second, I think evaluating his decision to play for the US because of a couple of quotes read on the Internet is also unfair. I mean, the kid was 19 when he made those statements and he's not college educated. Sorry if he isn't Francis Scott Key in articulatley expressing his love for the US and why he chose to play for us. Look, maybe Zak chose the US over England because he knew he'd never play for the Lions. But maybe he didn't. We don't know that and unless he comes out and says that, we're likely never gonna know. But, not getting picked for Germany, Holland or France never kept me from cheering for Thomas Dooley, Earnie Stewart or David Regis when they played for the US and not getting picked for England doesn't keep me from wanting to see Whitbread play for the US and do well. But, for all we know Whitbread figures he was born an American and that's who he should represent because he wants to have a link to the place of his birth. Could be but, again, we don't know. But, it doesn't matter. He was born an American and wants to play for the US. Why he wants to doesn't matter. Case closed.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich So ... to turn back to the original subject ... Fabian is youth team at 1860 Munich and has appeared with German U18 squad? No senior appearances for 1860? Early days yet, of course.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich Mackens crap anyways. We have better forwards like Morrison, Duff, Keane, Stephen Elliot, and McGeady. Morrison was born in England, but he learnt the Irish Anthem in Gaelic in order to sing it at Landsdowne road. I think thats great. And hes a great player. On great form at the moment too.
Re: Fabian Johnson: '87 @ 1860 Munich But have their own team, right? I thought there was some stink about him playing for them, etc...making him ineligible for the US
Fabian Johnson He plays for TSV 1860 München, 18 year old talented player who can play Left/Rightback as well as on Left/Right midfield. He is nominated for the German U20 national team and was a regular starter for the German U19, U18 and U17. (holds German and US passport)