In honor of women dual US citizen greats Monica Gonzalez (Mexico) and Steffi Jones (Germany), it makes sense to create a thread similar to what we have for the men, especially because the US has become a massive exporter of women's talent to other countries. I'll provide what I can find. I am limiting the players to US citizens (I'm not assuming a HS or college player in the US is a citizen). Much like what we see with the men, it's really difficult to confirm citizenship. If you see anything that is incorrect, please add some information. For starters, I will build the list with 1 to 5 countries per post and include whatever competitive information I could find. I'll use the following notation: WNT (friendly or competitive cap or camp) (competitions) YNT (friendly or competitive cap or camp) (competitions) US (involvement with US teams at any level)
HAITI: Ednie Limage - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Samantha Brand - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Kim Boulos - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tatian Mathelier - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying NEW ZEALAND: Ali Riley - YNT: 2006 U-20 World Cup; WNT: 2011 World Cup Rebecca Smith - WNT: 2007 World Cup; 2008 Olympics Jenny (Bourn) Bindon - WNT: 2007 World Cup BRAZIL: Leah Fortune - YNT: 2010 U-20 World Cup ITALY: Anna Maria Picarelli - WNT: 2008 Algarve Cup, 2009 European Championships; 2011 UEFA World Cup Qualifying; US: U-23 camp
ENGLAND: Karen Bardsley - YNT: UEFA U-19 Championship; WNT: 2005 Algarve Cup; 2011 World Cup SCOTLAND: Ifeoma Dieke - WNT: 85 caps (as of May 2012) COLOMBIA: Nataly Arias - WNT: 2011 World Cup
MEXICO: Teresa Noyola - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying; US: U-17, U-18, U-20. Natalie Vinti - WNT: 2011 World Cup Rubi Sandoval - WNT: 2011 World Cup Alina Garciamendez - WNT: 2011 World Cup Natalie Garcia Mendez - WNT: 2011 World Cup Veronica Perez - WNT: 2011 World Cup Monica Alvarado - YNT: 2010 U-20 World Cup Amanda Perez - YNT: U-17 World Cup Renae Cuellar - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Cynthia Pineda - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-17 World Cup Qualifying Halie Hernandez - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-17 World Cup Qualifying Jenny Chiu - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-17 World Cup Qualifying; US: U-17 camp Bianca Sierra - YNT: YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Ashley Kotero - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Olivia Jimenez - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Mar Rodriguez - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Natalie Lagunas - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Janelly Farris - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Janet Mendez - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Wendy Espejel - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying I'm watching the CONCACAF U-17 World Cup Qualifying and there are 11 women on the roster who are based in the US. Doesn't mean they are US citizens, but it would be interesting to find out.
CANADA: Lauren Sesselman - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying; 2011 Pan American Games Karina LeBlanc - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying; 2008 Olympics; 2011 Pan American Games; 2011 World Cup; 2002 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying; 2003 World Cup Chelsie Stewart - YNT: 2008 U-20 World Cup; WNT: 2011 World Cup; 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Ally Courtnall - YNT: 2010 U-17 World Cup; US: U-17 camp Nicole Hill - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying Taylor Bucklin - YNT: 2012 CONCACAF U-17 World Cup Qualifying
PORTUGAL: Kimberly Brandao - WNT: 2009 Algarve Cup; 2010 Algarve Cup; 2011 EUFA World Cup Qualifying; US: ODP 9 years Emilie Rebelo - YNT: U-19 camp IRELAND: Mary Therese McDonnell - WNT: 2009 European Championships; 2011 World Cup Qualifying Shannon McDonnell - WNT: 2009 European Championships; 2011 World Cup Qualifying PHILIPPINES: Heather Cooke - WNT: 2011 ASEAN World Cup Qualifying
CHILE: Rebecca Silva - YNT: 2008 CONMEBOL U-20 World Cup Qualifying GUATEMALA: Shannon Brooks - WNT: 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying PANAMA: Dayton Wetherby - YNT: U-20 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
What about those with dual citizenship that opted for the US, like Sydney Leroux? Are there any others?
Looks like one player with multiple options: Adriana Rodrigues Now at Jacksonville University U17 Brazil for the World Cup CONMEBOL qualifiers in 2008 U19 Portuguese National team in 2012 Euro Championships -- may be on the squad for the finals, but the database says she has turned 20.
That's the girl. A quick check shows that one of her teammates is also a Yank, Patrice Impelido from Western Michigan (grad in 2010), though I can't confirm her citizenship. WMU says she was born in Australia and went to high school in Illinois, but we all know that doesn't necessarily mean citizenship.
Canada: Martina Franko née Martina Holan Born in Los Altos CA to Czech parents. Came up though US development system, went to Colorado Col.in the 90's Married a Canadian in 2003 and got her first CNT cap in 2005 at age 29. Her sister Regina Holan played for Greece in the Athens Olympics pre-Olympic run up ( Greece was an automatic qualifier) then Greece decided to use only Native born players.
I didn't even try to add any former players, but, according to this USSF pre-match report, the Greek team was made up of 8 (out of 18) Greek-Americans: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/womens...r-team-kicks-off-against-greece-tomorrow.aspx
Sorry, I didn't see you had restricted the list to only currently rostered players. I did see you restricted the list to Americans, with no evidence some of those listed are U S citizens. "dual citizenship" is not something that FIFA nor the USA recognize, so I suggest a tighter criteria (I hold two passports and neither country recognizes the other citizenship, and if you naturalize here, you must renounce your other). The USA system will allow foreign players to play on the USA youth programs, just as the Germans allow USA players in their system. That will keep the list pretty fluid, as I see some of the players listed are questionable for either citizenship or currency. I'm pretty sure Franko played for Canada within the last but maybe not. Time runs together when you get older. The roster area of the CNT site is down right now. At any rate, she is listed by the Canadian association as one of their all time best 11, so I thought her relevant. http://www.canadasoccer.com/associa...omen-s-team-p150747&t=article_canadasoccer100 I just added Regina because she was Martina's sister, and she got on the Greek squad by virtue of a Greek husband. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/05/30/SPGR36U6U91.DTL I also have a link for an article on the aftermath which explains the exact reason she didn't play, but she was on the Greek national squad until just before the games and for some reason the Greeks pooched her Olympic certification. Maybe there was a quota. At any rate, the articles are pretty solid evidence she is both American and played for Greece for about two years. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6990870.html I guess you can sign up for the free 7 day trial for the whole article.
I'm not trying to limit the list, but I didn't try to do any research on players no longer in active player pools. If someone else wants to do it, great. If that gets too big, then maybe we will have to split the thread. I'm not sure where you are going with the "dual citizenship" concept. Both the US government and FIFA recognize that individuals may hold more than one citizenship at a time. While the US does require you to renounce other citizenships as part of the oath when you naturalize, as a practical matter that oath doesn't have any practical impact on the other citizenship unless you actively renounce it (and some countries don't allow that). My guess is that most of these players are born with two citizenship options, rather than naturalizing. As I mentioned in the original post, I have tried to limit the pool to US citizens and most people don't list citizenship on their bios. I have used birthplace when available and/or participation in ODP and U-xx teams as evidence of citizenship. Most of them have been mentioned by another source as being a US citizen (though that can be wrong). As we know with men's players like Faguendez and Potts that isn't 100% accurate, but it's close enough -- especially on the women's side where the US has an oversupply of talent. As I said, if something is wrong --- mention it in the thread. If nothing else, I always find it interesting to know about players who grew up in the US soccer environment, even if they aren't eligible for USWNT play.
FIFA only requires that you hold a valid passport from the country you play for, or in the case of some countries, the passport valid for the association you are certified in ( Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland, , but NOT Catalonia, for examples). They in no way accept, however, any dual status for adults. They only state that youths don't have to make a final decision until adulthood. You can, with only rare special exceptions, play for one country in your lifetime after you reach the age of consent (21) in an official FIFA match, unless the political status of your association changes (as with the Soviet Union) And there are circumstances where the USA will consider your conduct and acceptance of a foreign passport as evidence that you have renounced your American citizenship, terrorism prosecutions being the most in the news lately, but criminal cases as well. You are right that in most cases, they don't deal with the issue, but that's not what the law is. Though normally, you must renounce your us citizenship to lose it, that is not always the case. The department of state has this on their site. I agree that the number of USA players on other teams is interesting, as is the status of players who might have gone the other way, but to only deal with current players might skew perception. Such exchanges have always occurred as far back as I have followed women's soccer, which includes the first Women's World Cup. On the Men's side, the USA has by far more players who came the other way. It's not even clear some USA players were citizens in the first World Cup in 1930, nor did FIFA require such proof back then.
Michelle Kowalski, Angelica Pawlowski, and Evelyn Nicinski are US citizens that play for Poland's U19 team.
In this article, Kowalski refers to Poland as "her nationality". http://www.fairfieldstags.com/news/2011/10/3/ENEWS_1003112424.aspx Also: http://www.soccerway.com/players/michelle-kowalski/153515/ Are you sure she is a yank, or just a resident? You might want to check the others. I didn't.
Yes, I am sure. The 2nd website you posted is incorrect. She was born in the US. I don't need to check any of them. I keep tabs on Poland because I was born there and speak the language.
You could add Arianna Criscione, born in California, double citizenship, currently GK for Torres Sassari (winner of the Serie A italian championship); she has some caps in the Italian WNT camps since last year and played at least one match during the friendly San Paolo Tournament last December in Brasil (Italy, Brasil, Chile, Denmark)
I certainly understand the history of this as I've been following it for a long time as well. The focus on current players is more a function of time available to input and maintain (as well as wondering if anyone else on BS has any interest in the subject) than of a lack of appreciation for the past. I think I first noticed the phenomenon of "cross nationality athletes" in the 1976 Winter Olympics with Dianne de Leeuw, the Dutch-American figure skater (which is another sport where we export athletes).