The Bakary Soumare Thread

[USvsIRELAND]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2008/06/barbados_bakary_books_and_back.html

*Imagine another 6-foot-4 central defender with African family roots playing on the backline for the U.S. national team. You know Oguchi Onyewu's story. Now consider Bakary Soumare, the second-year Chicago defender. Soumare, 22, is from Mali, grew up outside Paris, spent his teenage years in New York and attended the University of Virginia for a couple years. (To read the big feature I wrote about him while at UVA, click here.) He has a green card and says he's a year or two away from becoming a U.S. citizen.

"Representing the U.S. national team would be fantastic, a great accomplishment," he told the Insider. "On the same note, as you know I'm not a U.S. citizen yet. If I was and I had gotten called up by either Bob Bradley or Peter Nowak for the Olympics, I would not have turned it down. I mean, it would be crazy for me to pass that opportunity. I have not talked to the USSF about it because I'm not sure how much they can help and I'm not even sure I'm on Bob Bradley's radar."

Is Soumare accomplished enough after one-plus MLS seasons to play for the USA right now? No, of course not. But he is certainly a player to watch in the coming years as he develops his game and receives citizenship.

Many here are likers of Soumare including Sandon "I love tall defenders" Mibut.
:D

So I thought I would create a thread as I had read rumors on here that he didn't want to play for us.

Mr. Bradley needs to say "hey you are on our radar dude" ASAP.

[Sandon Mibut]

This is the most definitive I've heard Soumare on this issue of playing for the US. It also seems like with every quote he sounds more and more like he wants to represent the US.

At first he was like "Mali! That's where I'm from and that's where my heart is."

Then, it was like "I consider myself both Malian and American so it would be a hard choice."

And now it's "if I can, I'll represent the US."

(Please note that he didn't actually say these things verbatum and that I'm just paraphrasing from what I interpreted the gist of his comments to be.)

So, it sounds like he's comin' around.;)

And yes, I do like Soumare and not just because he's 6-4 - though that doesn't hurt!

He's got great positioning and is very composed and comfortable with the ball. He's obviously solid in the air but good with players running at him.

He's also not without flaw and will likely need to get stronger as he was shrugged off by Kenny Cooper on a break away Sunday for the game's only goal.

But, were he a US citizen right now, I think he'd already be in the mix for a spot on the senior team and would be a lock-starter for the Olympics. Too bad we can't rush his citizenship through before Beijing.

[MtMike]

I doesn't matter til he gets his citizenship.

[Sandon Mibut]

I doesn't matter.Don't be so hard on yourself (Judge), you definitely matter!

[USvsIRELAND]

When I become Congressman I'm introducing a bill to fast-track citizenship for foreigners living in USA that want to represent the United States in Athletic Competition.

Either way this is good news considering that another promising young defender of ours is wishy washy.

[superdave]

It's a bit odd that he seems to not understand that without citizenship, it's impossible for him to get a call from Bradley and Nowak.

I've been keeping an eye on him this year. To my eye, he seems to tackle pretty cleanly, which is nice.

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

It doesn't matter til he gets his citizenship.

I understand that if Bakary Soumare moves to California and marries David Regis, we can get his citizenship expedited.....

[MtMike]

I understand that if Bakary Soumare moves to California and marries David Regis, we can get his citizenship expedited.....

you don't have to be a resident to tie the knot there. He wouldn't even have to move.

[FW__]

Based on his play last year I wouldn't want him anywhere near the national team but he has improved tremendously (which is expected from year 1 to year 2). If he keeps improving it would be another solid defender for the pool.

[Woodrow]

I understand that if Bakary Soumare moves to California and marries David Regis, we can get his citizenship expedited.....

That would be [almost] like John Oliver marrying Jason Jones, only to discover that Jones is Canadian.

[SoccerKowboy]

Any chance we can naturalize a Brazilian? Everyone else seems to be doing it. And no, Benny doesn't count.

[Nutmeg]

As I've said all year, he's the best defender in MLS. If he were a citizen, nobody should be called up before him.


The funny thing is that Sean Franklin might be the second best this year.

[m vann]

Sign him up (when of course he gets his citizenship)!!! Last season he looked like a deer-in-head lights mostly due to inexperience and adjusting to the professional game. Now he looks poised, confident, and the tactical knowledge is building game to game. When he has those papers in hand, he will be in the pool. He's more mobile than Gooch probably dies to less weight. Nonetheless, I hope he gets those papaer sooner than later.

[Kevin8833]

As I've said all year, he's the best defender in MLS. If he were a citizen, nobody should be called up before him.


The funny thing is that Sean Franklin might be the second best this year.
I am very high on Franklin, tremendous player and already a citizen.

[dcpohl]

Hopefully he can get his citizenship before the next World Cup. If Mali manage to qualify and invite him I'm sure it'd be hard to pass that up if he isn't a US citizen. Everybody is aware of our centerback problem. I'd almost put him in the same boat as Subotic. If he were eligible to play for us he could compete for the no. 3 position immediately.

How long is the naturalization process? Six years?

[voros]

It's a bit odd that he seems to not understand that without citizenship, it's impossible for him to get a call from Bradley and Nowak.
I didn't read it that way. I read it as him saying that he hadn't spoken with anyone from the USSF so he didn't know whether anyone there could help him with the citizenship process.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop on the act that was rammed through congress so the Ice Dancers could compete in the Olympics. It would seem that if it applied to them it would apply to soccer players as well.

[American Arsenal]

Watching him play vs Chivas right now, Soumare has looked good. He's got underrated recovery speed. Which makes his position look even better.

I hope he gets his citizenship as soon as possible.

I would not be surprised to see Soumare partner up with Spector for awhile for the USMNT.

[IndividualEleven]

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., thinks so too. He authored an amendment that was adopted by the Senate last week that would allow Belbin and, his office says, as many as 100 other "aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics" to speed up their citizenship — something a new rule now allows — and correct "an absurdity in the law," as Levin put it in a news release.

Today, due to a rule change in 2002, those with "extraordinary ability" can apply for their visas and green cards at the same time. But when Belbin and many others started the process before the rule change, she had to wait 18 months after getting her visa before receiving her green card.

Had Belbin been working under the new system, she likely would have become a U.S. citizen this month, in plenty of time to make the 2006 Olympics.

If Belbin is the Ice Dancer that postyers are referring to it looks like this Senator just introduced a bill to the make the updated law retroactive. I don't have a prob with this. I was under the impression that some sort of 'quickie' citizenship had been granted.

[Tonerl]

As I've said all year, he's the best defender in MLS. If he were a citizen, nobody should be called up before him.


The funny thing is that Sean Franklin might be the second best this year.

So was Carlos Bocanegra.

How's that line of reasoning working out for ya'?

Anyway, he seems to me like he has pretty exceptional feet for a man of his size. However, I think declaring him to be a better center half than all of our current options is premature, at best. I also question whether he will continue to improve apace. It's easy to look at a huge leap after one year of professional soccer and assume that the player will continue to make those strides for a few years, but it doesn't happen all that often (Crissy Ronaldo starring as the exception to this rule).

Assuming he gets his citizenship and chooses to play for the US, he'll be in the mix. So we'll see, I guess.

[IndividualEleven]

Bocanegra is currently first choice centerback; so being best in MLS projected pretty well for him.