From what I've been lead to believe both Robben and Ribery aren't that well liked among their teammates.
yeah but there is a difference between being an immigrant and being recruited from another country to come play for the US... right now the US recruits more than any other national team in the world... they are always looking for players with dual citizenship to bring to the US instead of concentrating on their homegrown talent []__[]
I'm talking about soccer, not society or politics. The USSF isn't going to select a team based on race/ethnicity, whereas in France, there was controversy with top FFF officials agreeing to 'quotas' intended to limit the involvement of black and North African players in French teams. Tall won't have to deal with any of that in the U.S. set-up.
stop with what? im just pointing out a fact nothing more, the US has more players with double citizenship than any other country in the world.. a lot of those players get citizenship because of their football talents nothing more.... if the US wants to become a world power in football they need to concentrate on home grown talent and not in having scouts in germany looking for players []__[]
The first part may or may not be true and can be tough to quantify as there are a few ways to look at; ie people who qualify for US citizenship while being citizens of other nations and people who hold currently hold US citizenship as well as that of another nation. If true I am sure it is just a coincidence it gives us an advantage in international soccer as these laws, and those of other countries, were not made with World Cup glory in mind. As for the second part I press you to name all of these US internationals that were granted citizenship for footballing reasons and nothing else. Having an American parent, being born in the US to foreign parents and growing up abroad, or being married to an American and obtaining citizenship through them then opting to play for the US is completely different than a country like Qatar giving citizenship to some Brazilian straight off the boat,who didn't even know what Qatar was, just to win a few games. Our dual nationals currently in the squad already qualified as citizens before choosing to represent the US; they weren't granted citizenship to play soccer.
Only David Régis was fast-tracked, as far as I know (and he married an American, FFS). So obviously the post is garbage. However, I would like to announce that I'm a dual-citizen with only one American parent. And I grew up abroad in a soccer-mad country. Jurgen can cap the shit out of me if he wants. I'm literally sitting by the phone. (How long before JK figures out I'm a tennis player and can't play soccer to save my life?)
Neither of my parents were American citizens until they came here. Owen Hargreaves, Podolski and Klose, Eduardo and Josip Šimunić, Ozil, Khediera. Qatar. The list goes on. This happens almost all the time in International Football. I believe that Hargreaves was born in Canada, raised in Canada, played in Germany and had one parent who was remotely English.
And Regis took advantage of an already existing loophole, so it's not like an exception was made for him because he was a player wanted by our national team.
I'm not here to troll or to start a fight, but i think the US has the means and the ability to become a giant in soccer on their own merits. They almost made the semifianls in 2002 and if it wasnt for a disallowed goal that shouldve counted who knows how far that team goes. So my question is why the infatuation with players abroad. Fans are always scouting and looking for overseas players over home grown talent. A lot of those overseas players the fans call for are not even in the first division or if they are they not getting regular playing time. But just because they are in europe fans want them. In my opinion homegrown talent will give it their all and have their heart in it more than hired guns who will only see it as a business decision to advance their careers and get more exposure. []__[]
Hired guns? We're dual citizens, not mercenaries. The USMNT has the obligation to get the best Americans there are. End of discussion. It maybe that a foreign accent makes some fans go weak in the knees but you are suggesting something I don't like or care for. The greatness of America is that for most of us dual citizens we're better accepted here than in our other country (see J. Jones).
Is there something wrong if a Frenchman wants to cheer for a player he can identify with when it comes to representing his own country? How many Americans can identify with the latest U-23 team that represented the U.S.?
i agree with fingersave. who is to say someoneis a better american than another? an american is an american period. it doesn't matter where he was trained or where he plays. so lets just focus on skills qnd potential. all the rest is nonsense.
11 Americans playing for their country - I can completely identify with that team. My only complaint is that I'm not fit enough to be able to join them.
You're not getting my point I really do not care or have a problem with their accent nor the color of their skin. My problem is that they are only recruited because of their soccer skills. They play for the US not because they love the US but because they cant make their respective national teams. To give you an example so you can understand, Carmelo Anthony couldve played for Puerto Rico's national team in basketball because of his grandparents. Our basketball federation spend a lot of money and time trying to convince him to play for us. It was criticized by many and others were warm to the idea. Me personally I rather we used our own homegrown talent, why use players that were raised somewhere else and really dont feel anything for the national shirt. If a player of puertorrican descent wants to play for PR I dont have a problem but when we have to try to convince spend money and time for it then is not worth it. Wearing the national shirt should be a privilege. The US soccer federation is doing the same thing the PR basketball federation is doing in basketball but with soccer. Going all over the world looking for prospects to better the team. That really demises the whole purpose of sports and international competitions. []__[]
1-drogba was never top scorer of the french league 2-drogba never played in 2nd division in france, guingamp were in 1st division 3-while mourinho's FC porto was winning the champions league final, drogba was losing in the final of what is known today as "europa league", aka the second division of european club football
that's exactly what laurent blanc tried to do when he asked scouts to stop picking black players only because blacks have an advantage in the youth squads because they mature earlier it's exactly what he said i have quotes from other important people in french soccer, scouts, coaches, who said the same before the quotas affair
laurent guyot, in charge of the youth development in nantes, the best in france, so much better than le mans that it's not even funny: "i am sorry about this but the evolution is obvious: we now take athletes and try to turn them into soccer players" "in the youth squads, in each age category, there are very few players who were born in the last trimester of the year it means that if you grow up a few months later than the others you are eliminated and have fewer chances to turn pro we see this happening more and more" and fabrice briand, who also works for fc nantes: "and since blacks reach puberty earlier than whites, they currently make up for 80% of the youth categories in france" (80% of all the clubs' youth categories in france, not only the french national team)
How scientific... This thread is cancer, which is a shame because Maki could very well be reading stuff like this in disgust.
Hey Maki if your reading this, as Danny Williams (half black/white) once said ............in Germany they ask where he is from (even though hes part german) and when he is in America they never ask where he is from and assume hes already an American. Forget the European BS, and remember American sports media is hoping for the tiger woods of American soccer to come soon.
Most of the posters spreading that racist BS are non-Americans. It always reminds me of The Spanish people throwing bananas at the black players in Spain, They Beautiful Spain? No way! can't be!