The vote counting is still going, but last I heard there was a distinct possibility that Puerto Rico might become the newest US state. Assuming this happens, what happens to their national team? Are they US players now, or does there need to be a FIFA decision on this one?
Puerto Rico was voted as a US state so soccer wise, I'd imagine any player who previously represented Puerto Rico such as Josh Saunders is now USA eligible.
Saunders would be eligible and probably a decent 3rd keeper. Other than that I cant think of anyone really worth while.
There'll be a little delay before any of this happens. Puerto Rico still has to submit a petition for statehood, Congress needs to pass a joint resolution accepting it as a state, and the President needs to sign that resolution. Even if no territory has ever had a petition for statehood rejected, it takes time to go through all the motions. I was going to mention Jason Hernandez as a decent player who played for Puerto Rico, but he was never cap-tied to them anyway.
Yeah only that is not true. Just a quick look at this seasons stats he has the highest american win % overall. 3rd lowest GAA and 3rd highest Save % But I would like to see you name all twenty better US eligible keepers that are better than him.
Have you seen him playing or just looking at stats? He is the worst starter in the league with MacMath close second. And half of the back ups is better than him as well.
What happens is that the U.S. attack would be bolstered by Marc Cintron, who scored this stunner against Spain just a few months ago!
Wtf are you talking about. When Saunders was out for 5-6 weeks, Galaxy didn't win a game. Then Saunders came back and Galaxy immediately started winning games again. It was only a couple of years ago when Saunders had the lowest GAA in the MLS. Saunders is a good goalie. I'd put Saunders right below Rimando in talent.
Maybe since they've had such an established federation, we start getting a North American version of the Home Nations situation?
The same question "Have you seen him playing?". He is the weakest link on Galaxy and won't be starting next year.
He never played for Puerto Rico in any context--he was invited but turned it down to preserve his US eligibility. He did get a Camp Cupcake call-up once but got injured in training.
As for the original question, the most likely result would be that Puerto Rico would have to withdraw from FIFA membership and the USSF would extend its jurisdiction to the island. Perhaps the FPF could stay in business as an associate member of CONCACAF and compete in some competitions like Martinique and Guadaloupe. In terms of cap-tied players, I'd guess it would be considered a merger situation and players would be eligible for the US. It's not a perfect analogy, but it would be kind of like how players tied to both West Germany and East Germany were able to play for unified Germany.
Not necessarily, they may be able to keep their own FA, maybe lose their FIFA World Cup qualifier status, but may stay like French Guyana or Guadalup and be a Concacaf Federation (meaning Gold cup eligible).
I am a galaxy fan. I have been watching the Galaxy back when they played at the Rose Bowl. Saunders is a top keeper and he has been proving that tonight against San Jose. He will without a doubt start next season if he is at the club. You are obviously trolling or have no idea what you are talking about.
We can play Mexico in Puerto Rico. I know a lot of Puerto Ricans who don't like Mexicans here in Chicago.
Just to be clear, despite the fact that this referendum passed....................it doesn't mean much of anything As we're hearing, there's little hope of Puerto Rican statehood with a Republican controlled House of Representatives. As this article states: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...-rican-statehood-unlikely-until-at-least-2015 Politically, there's little chance of Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state with a split Congress. Puerto Ricans in the United States vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, and elected officials in Puerto Rico are nearly always Democrats, so House Republicans have little reason to approve a Puerto Rican statehood bill. "While they have different party names in Puerto Rico, they're usually one shade of Democrat or another," John Hudak, a governance studies fellow at the Brookings Institution, says of the island's politics. A compromise can be reached in the House, whereby new seats are given to conservative-leaning states with expanding populations. (Utah for intance) But you can't get around the fact that Puerto Rico would add two Senate seats which would be filled by two Democrats for the forseeable future. I just want to make this clear for everybody. Puerto Rican statehood ain't happening for a long, long time even if the Puerto Ricans actually want it. So from a soccer point of view we can all just forget about it. Most Puerto Ricans of high quality can play for the USMNT if they want to in the way that Chris Armas did. [Who of course actually got 5 caps for Puerto Rico]
I wouldn't like it if there were Puerto Ricans who played for USA in WCQs and Puerto Rico in the Gold Cup. For the examples you gave, I'm assuming players on French Guyana and Guadeloupe in the Gold Cup and Caribbean qualifiers for it don't play for any national team in WCQs. If they do play in WCQs, what country do they play for?
FG and Guadeloupe do not play in FIFA WCQs. But they do play in the GC (if they make it), and if France was ever invited to play in the Gold Cup, they could play against each other. Regarding players, I am not sure, but I do believe players have gone back and forth between France and the Islands (FG). Again we could have Puerto Rico be more like Hong Kong and Macau, they are part of China yet they kept their independent FAs and sometimes do play against China in WCQ, Player movements between the 3 I assume are much more restricted since all 3 are FIFA members. I also assume that if Taiwan ever was annexed to China, Taiwan could/would keep their own FA and their own National team. So I guess my main point is that Puerto Rico becoming a state could be similar as Macau and Hong Kong (Maybe Taiwan in the future) becoming part of China but keeping their FIFA membership.
I don't see any actual facts in this article! Both Republican and Democratic administrations have been working for decades on getting Puerto Rico to decide on statehood. Also, Puerto Rico's statehood is part of both parties platforms! So even if some Republicans might not like it there will be enough votes from both sides to get the simple majority to approve Puerto Rico's statehood. The big issue will be what the people in Puerto Rico want and this article amazingly fails to touch that!
I think you're incredibly oversimplifying, especially considering that support of PR statehood is explicitly stated in the GOP 2012 platform. Bringing up the balance of power is definitely a good point, but only one of many. Either way, one thing that's for sure is the issue will NOT be cut-and-dry, especially with how the referendum was split into two parts. Still, I personally think PR statehood is likely. Maybe not soon, but I'd blame that on the general sluggishness of bureaucracy instead of on Republican stalling. =edit= It appears I was ninja'd while typing and looking things up.