Hes played both. Responding to Jgco, yes, they have improved. They still qualify through UEFA. Henley won't be ready for any final 23 world cup roster, Wales or ours, by 2014. What happens if in 2016, to qualify for the 2018 WC they have two teams such as Germany and a France or Italy in their group. It could easily happen. They would then not qualify. While Wales can make WCs, the US almost definitely will make them all in the near future.
Yup. And if he played for Wales in an official FIFA competition..............he'd need to file for the one-time switch prior to his 21st birthday. Of course it's all conjecture right now.
I don't think the "21" rule still exists as Jones, Castillo and Johnson were all over 21 when they switched to the US.
If Henley continues to improve (which obviously he will need to for an NT cap) then he will be considered for the Welsh team in the next 12 months. As for Wales themselves, they now have two genuine world class players in Ramsay & Bale to build around. They wont make every WC/Euros, but they will qualify for one in the near future. As for Bale, he is now exclusively a left winger for Wales as for Spurs.
Folks, if you'd like to go into more depth about Henley's potential role on the national team, then, by all means, feel free to participate in the US forum--pretty sure there's already a thread there for him. If, however, you're just interested in posting drive-by snark and engaging in, frankly, ridiculous debates about the relative "Americanness" of American citizens, then take it to World Rivalries or, well, anywhere else but this forum.
Any idea when Henley moved from the US to England/Wales? Did he ever play soccer in the US? Just interested.
We will most likely not here anything more until some media outlet (like Yanks Abroad) trys to interview him. Based on his twitter responses in one of the earlier posts we know he qualifies for Wales through his mother. It can't be ruled out at this point that his father could be American. Hopefully US contacts him and invites him to one of the U-20 or U-23 get togethers. --------------------------------------------------------------- Did some digging and this is his brother: "Born in Atlanta, Georgia, raised in NW England." http://www.owenhenley.co.uk/ He has a facebook page that is real easy to find if anyone wants to ask him straight up if he has family connections to the U.S./ would his bro like to play for US. - I highly suggest you ask it in a nicer more formal way though. ---------------------------------------------------------------- My assumption based on evidence: The fact that he was born in Knoxville while his not much older brother was born in Atlanta added to the fact that we dont know the origins of his father make me believe its very possibly Adam Henley has more connections to the U.S. than just birthplace. I could be wrong though.
The u21 rule was eliminated in favor of the one time switch rule. However, the player has to be eligible for country B at the time he represented country A.
Brothers response on twitter Nathan_Smith22 Nathan Smith @OwenHenley Can your brother qualify to play for the USA? We would like him to OwenHenley Owen Henley @Nathan_Smith22 yeah he does. He will decide in the near future
Well, he didn't say "yes, but he's choosing to play for Wales", so that's good. I'll remain optimistic.
All, following the huge amount of interest surrounding Adam from the USA, as his mother I thought it would be a good point to give everyone some facts. Adam is not really in a position to reply to individual tweets at this time, so please be patient. Adam was indeed born in Knoxville, TN. I am Welsh and his father is American. The Henley family, including his father William Henley, still live in and around Knoxville, Loudon and Rockwood, TN. When we first married we both worked in Atlanta, hence the reason his elder brother was born there. We moved to Knoxville shortly before Adam was born. When Adam was 2 years old, we divorced and I brought Adam back to the UK with his brother. Adam has played for Wales at U16, U17 and U19 levels, and has been in the U21 squad on one occasion although he didn't play. I can confirm that Claudio Reyna and Jurgen Klinsmann have both spoken to Adam's agent with regards to his eligibility, and have invited Adam to an U23 training camp. Due to Adam's recent inclusion in the senior team at Blackburn, he has naturally been concentrating on establishing his position there and has put international matters on the back burner. Also, following the sudden death of the Wales manager Gary Speed, the Wales camp is still in mourning and are yet to name a successor. For all these reasons, it has not been a good time to make decisions. We thank everyone for their continued interest, and assure you that any decisions will be fully considered. I hope this answers some unanswered questions and clarifies some rumours. Thanks, Sian.
What, the people that actually know what theyre talking about/ have real info or the vast majority of the rest of us that speculate on every possible scenario and then look stupid when real info becomes available?
Nice post. Thanks for taking the time to give us the true scoop. I would love to see Henley at LB, which would allow Chandler to slide back over to his natural RB position on Cherundolo hangs up his International boots in the next couple of years.
I should have mentioned that Adam is naturally right-footed and in the long term his goal is to play at RB, but he has served his apprenticeship at LB and has shown he is more than capable in that position.
Even better IMO, because the US is short on fullbacks in general and someone that could play either side is invaluable.
If you watched his game vs Blackburn you'd see that he's more than serviceable at LB. Plus, Chandler has shown the same thing. As long as they are comfortable with their left feet when absolutely needed, it's fine to be a right footed left back.
Sian, Thanks for taking time to clarify, and best wishes for the new year to you and yours. Whatever the future may bring we'll be rooting for Adam. (Yeah I'm buttering up mom already, but hey, I'll root for any 17 year old who can defend like that against Nani and rest of the Manchester United attack.; )
Thanks for the info and well-composed post. Compared to some previous parents' posts this is amazing.