The Argentinians for sure, but the Brazilians, not so much. Granted, a lot of them have the caps, but a lot of them don't. I guess having the "inho" suffix or being known by your first name automatically qualifies you as exceptionally talented. I mean, how did Geovanni, for example, get this? He must have a Portuguese passport or something.
Is two years enough for Spanish citizenship? I guess he could have some Spanish ancestry, but I would think that Portuguese would be more likely.
Yes in Spain it is. If you have ties to a South American or Central American country you can get Spanish citizenship in two years. Its a fast track process, regularly its about 5 years.
So it would appear he's not currently eligible for an EU passport. Surely there are teams outside the UK he could go to if his heart is set on signing in Europe. Maybe he's using Everton as a springboard to get some attention and perhaps have the staff their make some calls.
if memory serves me right, I think MacMath trained with Stuttgart a few years back, I bet its something like that, just good summer training.
Unless something has changed I think Brazilians can get a Portuguese passport. One of my friends married a Brazillian and she has one, I know all of her grandparents were born in Brazil so I can't see her qualifying for one for any reason other than the colonial aspect. There also were a lot of Germans that decided to take extended vacations to Brazil in the mid 1940s.
I think most of those German vacationers in the mid 40's, Nazi's and war criminals to everyone else, immigrated to Argentina!
I wanna know why the Spain rule doesn't apply to the United States. I mean, I've been to Six Flags Over Georgia - Spain colonized Georgia, Florida, parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana plus, of course, most of the Southwestern US, California and Puerto Rico. How come we're not eligible for the same immingration status in Spain as those from Mexico and South America? And, hey, Zac MacMath is from Florida. So he should totally be eligible for Spanish citizenship in two years. Let Everton just loan him out to a Spanish second division team in two years then bring him back to be Timmeh!'s understudy till he returns to the US to play for the Cosmos.
Can't wait to see Diego Armando Hitler's WP application. "Uh, my great grandfather used to have an Austrian passport. And the German one too. And the Dutch, the French, the Belgian, the Danish, etc". WP Administrator: "That still doesn't allow you to work in England".
Alot of people around the world don't know about this. They also don't know that hispanics are American too.
Sad, but true. I once had a Brit expat professor, and he half-heartedly mocked me for not knowing some rather obscure fact about British history. I asked him why I should know such a thing, and he responded that it was "my history too." Of course, my family has no historical ties to Britain and have been located in a former Spanish colony for generations, but that seemed lost on him. It's like the 13 British colonies, which were mainly in the Northeast, somehow mean that all of American history is somehow British history Also, for those who didn't watch all of the Milk Cup. The announcers (in the Denmark game I believe) said that McMath or Powers or someone was one of those "rare American born players". That is an absurd and insulting statement, because only two of the players on the field at the time were born in another country, in Boss and Agudelo. It was clear he thought that dark skin or non-Irish/British name meant non-American. Very ignorant. Sorry for the rant. That Milk Cup thing had been bothering me. Back on topic: do we know how long this training stint is? I assume just a couple weeks?
Since Zac MacMath is Jewish, odds are that his family was not part of the original Spanish and Portugese Jews who settled here and could be that his family came from Europe in the 20th century. If that were the case, many of those countries now offer Jews the chance to reclaim citizenship. It has become very popular with certain countries now having entered the EU. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1408519,00.html A lot of Israeli footballers have done this in order to play in Europe. Sephardic Jews with proven lineage from the era of the inquisition can also get a fast track to Spanish citizenship after living in Spain for two years. Yossi Benayoun applied for citizenship this way. I don't remember though if he got it.
This made me crazy. I spent quite a while looking to validate who was born where, and I was only able to find a few on the whole team who were definitely born elsewhere. Of course, the bigger point to most US Americans is that it doesn't matter, but that might be harder to explain...
I didn't realize he was Jewish (with a name like MacMath, it doesn't jump right at you). But since he is, he should have some European ancestry. Some countries are better than others in "restoring" the old citizenship. I guess he should try that route. What is it gonna hoit?
I wrote on Zac's facebook wall and he got back to me ( which is cool in it's own respect ), but the message itself reads: "Great game today man, you looked fantastic out there. Best of luck with your Everton move" to which he answered: "thanks man! I really appreciate it" Seems like he's pretty sure about the Everton thing...and I'm not really sure how the BBCI commentators could have came up with the whole Howard pulling for him thing unless it originated from some source of authenticity. BTW, played against MacMath when he was a freshman. Kid's got skills...good demeanor and just a solid presence back there. Reminds me of Timmy
Not sure about about these particulars but the new "around the 18-YO rules" move is to come and leave every few months on a visitor's visa. But Zac needs a UK WP for an Everton move (unless Everton buys him and loans him to a Belgian club for 2 years or some other stuff happens).
Its not like Everton would need him for the next few seasons, so a loan or two would make perfect sense. Then if he looks good groom him to compete for the starting job, if not, sell him. He is coming from college so it would be an inexpensive move for Everton to make, and if he develops even a little they will be able to get some money from a transfer in a few years.
but does it look like he's gonna get bald someday? if he isn't, forget it... oh wait, there was this stocky dude with a ponytail .. never mind...