This is a very interesting case. Goetz is a '93 RB at Hamburg. He has played 151 minutes in the Bundesliga this year and has another 90 in the Cup. I believe thats more minutes than Green has played this season. He doesn't seem to have ever appeared for German youth teams at any level. Sites like transfermarkt.co.uk and other databases seem to list US nationality, so thats good enough for him to get his own thread. There is also this. Credit to @Dave Marino-Nachison for finding this guy. Great work.
I thought the whole point of the detective work thread was if a site like Transfermarkt listed someone as a Yank it was not a sure thing and we could do the detective work there.
In my opinion, and I am not a moderator of course, stuff like this should stay on the DW thread until we have something more to go on than Transfermarkt. To me, that means word from a club, the player, or someone affiliated with the player -- or at least a tangible clue to the source of a guy's American eligibility.
I do think that it could help in figuring out if he's a yank. Maybe one of the German posters that regularly posts in YA knows someone at the club or knows about Goetz. Very few people read the detective work thread.
@bshredder @CreightonMCFCjoey @Germerica, do any of you know if he's a yank or can any of you find out?
Transfermarkt is definitely not a sure thing. I did some digging a few months ago on Shawn Kauter at Hertha who was listed as having German/American dual nationality. While Kauter did have an American grandparent, he was not eligible for American citizenship. But even if it is not 100% accurate, Transfermarkt is usually a good reason to do some sniffing around.
OK.. who here has very good knowledge of the law regarding acquiring American citizenship through a parent while born abroad. It is not always automatic. I need to have a DM discussion... Thank you
What a lot of people don't realize is that we produce a lot of players that don't end up playing for us. If you look at the number of the "poached" players in our best 23 compared to the players that have been "poached" from us that would be in our best 23 if they were playing for us, its probably pretty close to the same number.
If you have an parent who has an American passport and are under 18 when that passport is given, all you need to do is apply for a passport and it is granted, AFAIK. http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html
To be fair, the US has lost quality players to poaching. Subotic, Ibesivic are just two examples of Americans in the Bundesliga that don't play for the US national team.
You guys, @icebreaker only said "for once." We just need the U.S. to develop one player and he'll be happy. Just one player!
Here's an interview with Ashton discussing his American roots German-American Ashton Götz Arrives in Bundesliga
Great work, Brian. Since I assume that someone at USSF reads big soccer, they know what to do. Help this guy out with obtaining his passport. He seems willing to play for us, and he can be eligible if he obtains a passport. Seems like a promising player as well.