Should Arturo Alvarez play for El Salvador?

Another article stating that De Los Cobos will try to call Arturo Alvarez and possibly Gerson Mayen to the NT
http://www.impre.com/deportes/2009/6/13/el-salvador-va-a-reforzarse-pa-129811-1.html

 

el_cuscatleco I think you should make a thread of players playing abroad.

 

AA and other players that are born outside ES should pull a Giuseppe Rossi

 

I'm presuming Bradley won't call Alvarez in for Gold Cup. He's a fringe player for the US, but I think he'll be pretty good for ES. I just hope he doesn't score two goals for ES in the match at Rio Tinto.

 

Arturo Alvarez:

"Quiero jugar en la Copa"

Álvarez dijo que, por su parte, mandará una solicitud a FIFA para aclarar todo esto. "Tengo ganas, no aguanto por ponerme el uniforme de El Salvador; ojalá que sea en la Copa de Oro, estoy muy ansioso, ya quiero que comience", finalizó el salvadoreño.

http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=6429&idArt=3739168

 

I'd really like the US to show interest in capping him, as that way he would have to choose on or the other. I'm still not convinced he'd prefer to play for us over them. And if that's the case then i'd have a hard time supporting him knowing that he came to us out of spite or because he had no other option.

It'd also be interesting to see what his feelings would be in regards to coming over to us if we hadn't made the Hex.

 

Can you blame him? Two years ago not even Salvadoran players wanted to play in la seleccion. Look at Martinez he didn't attend a convocatoria once now look at him. I also don't think he'll make much of a difference. I hope he proves me wrong though.

 

I agree with you mate.

A little over 2 years ago, we struggled to win vs Belize and we were terrible. The worst of our history, and Arturito was being talked about greatly. The only problem was his inconsistancy. He has all the tools to play abroad he was offered a contract in France. The thing is this guy wanted to play in the World Cup and it really was not a realistic shot before, he never said he doesn't feel Salvadoran or he isn't proud to be. Ofcourse he is really proud to be American too, just like any other person. But now he see's this opportunity to play with us and why shouldn't he take it? In my honest opinion, he seems genuinely happy to play for us. I will support him fully.

 

Personaly i see these as completely different cases. I mean a few years ago the players had second thoughts about playing for us because they knew that our federation was not doing right by them. Our whole structure from top to bottom did nothing to help our football grow and players saw no point in participating as they saw no future in it.

In Alvarez' case, he's always prefered the US over us and the only reason he is willing to play for us now IMO, is out of spite for the US never giving him a chance or now seeing that he might be able to get something out of it for himself (possibly making the World Cup).

Exactly. Now that he sees he can get something out of it for himself he's keen to join the squad. If we hadn't made the Hex, then i'd bet things would be a lot different.

 

I think all of yall would agree its every boy's dream to play in a WC. Artie thought he could do it with the U.S., it didnt pan out. I dont think this is in spite or selfishness. He thought he had his shot and it didnt work our, now we were his second option, I have no problem with that.

We were horrible and he didnt want to join, its just natural that he wouldnt have looked at ES as an option during that time.

 

We are not his second option. We are his ONLY option, so in essence his last option (USA obviously being his first).

He didn't see us as an option until after we made the Hex. If he truely wanted to join, he would have made his intentions known way before then. Truth is he was still holding out on the hope that the US would call him up, and once he saw that wasn't happening, and he saw us make the Hex, then he became open to the idea of joining us instead. Now i don't know if it's pride or what, but the way i see it a player either want's to play for us or he doesn't, there is no in between; there is no "let me wait and see if this pans out first and then i'll let you know" type stuff. And that's exactly what Alvarez has done. He wanted to play for the US, and now that he sees that's not gonna happen, well he's decided to come here instead. It's not cause he'd prefer to be here, it's because he has no other option. I mean yes he could reject our offer and wait to see if the US call him up in the future, but he knows that might never happen.

 

Either way i'll support the guy. He is really proud of being Salvadoran American, he loves his family. He wanted to play for the US first but he says he is more than happy to play for us, and he sounds genuinely happy. And he will definitely increase our chances to advance to the WC so i'm all for it.

 

I look at it this way, to me is all about who is going to put bread on my table...

if AA had a chance of reaching better and greater things with the US then i dont blame him for choosing the US as his first option... just compare how many players the US had abroad at that point to what the ES had... get the picture...

 

See that's where we differ; because for me, if i was ever in that position (Australia or El Salvador), then there is no doubt in my mind that El Salvador would be my first and only option. Yes, maybe playing for Australia would give me greater exposure and i'd have a better chance of moving to a better league for bigger money, but in my opinion, if all your doing is thinking about making more money down the line and using the national team to do that for you then you don't deserve to be a national team player. Obviously all players know that performing well on the international scene can do good things for your career, but that comes as a bonus to representing your country. Playing for a national team is an honor, and you do it because of your love for the country, not because you specifically want to use the team to get yourself a better paying job at a bigger club.

 

Everybody has different needs in life... some peoples families are taken care off, some arent.... cant really judge the kid, only god can...Either way I support him like every other Salvadoran...

 

Okay, i may be stepping on some toes here but i'm just gonna say it and sorry if i offend anyone. But the way i see it, if someone is proud of being Salvadoran or in other words someone has love for a certain country, then they would at some point atleast bother to go to that country once in their lifetime, right? Now unless i'm getting my players mixed up here, Alvarez has never even been to El Salvador. And that to me says a lot.

Now people might throw up excuses like he's been busy or that it's expensive or whatever, but fact is the guy is a pro footballer. He makes enough money to go down to El Salvador ten times a year if he wanted to, but he has never seen the need to do it.

To me, there is a big difference between saying you are proud of being Salvadoran or proud of your heritage and actually doing something to show it. I don't wanna come out with clichés but honestly, talk is cheap. The guy can say what he want's, but by his actions, to me he seems like one of those people that only looks out for himself. Now that he sees he might be able to get something out of playing with us, then he's accepted our invitation. Had we not made the Hex, no doubt he'd still be waiting on that call up from the US.

 

He stated in a Article that he has been to ES, but it has been a looonnng time since the last time he was out there, if we roll back some pages on this thread i think we have already discuss this situation... Hes on our side now so people would have to support him wether they like or not...

 

Wasn't that Miranda? I'm sure Miranda said that as did Burgos. And then there was someone else who was born outside El Salvador and had never been back to visit. The only players left are Alvarez and Purdy; and well i'm pretty sure it was Alvarez. Could of course be wrong though

As for having to support him, well he'll get my support when he gets his 50th cap or when he scores his 50th goal. Whichever comes first

 

I understand that, and that's all well and good. But all i'm saying is don't be surprised if he somehow makes the list for the US Gold Cup team and chooses them over us; or if he joins us and gets a very limited amount of caps due to the fact that he won't wan't to play for us if we don't do well in the Hex.

Hopefully i'm wrong about him though. Or hopefully if he does play for us, then he can go to El Salvador, play for our national team and it can give him some perspective. Cause again, i honestly don't believe that he want's to play for us or even that he cares much for our country. But maybe/hopefully actually being there can help him change and he can grow to love El Salvador and inturn play for us out of honor instead of hoping to do well to get signed up to a team outside of the MLS.

 

Las autoridades de la FESFUT siguen a la espera de la notificación de FIFA para que el volante sea autorizado para jugar en la Azul.......

Link: Álvarez quedaría fuera de Copa Oro

 

WTFudge until October he has to be wrong....

 

This sucks. Hopefully a miracle can occur, and he will be able to play with us.

 

In a rich guy like Arturitos case then i would agree with you. But some people like me haven't had the opportunity to go back in a long ass time so that isn't all true. I LOVE EL SALVADOR MORE THAN ANYBODY YOU'LL EVER MEET. But Arturo did say he has visited El Salvador, there are articles on EDH, Grafico, LPG that state it when we first spoke about him.

 

Yeah and that is understandable, that's why said that in Alvarez' case it was different. I understand others can't make it for one reason or another but someone like Alvarez' shouldn't have a problem in visiting the country anytime he wants to.

You're right. I just double checked it and in a EDH article it states that he has not been to El Salvador in around 19 years (so since he was 5). Which means that even though i was wrong, i think my argument still holds water as you'd imagine that at 5 he was taken there by his parents. Now 19 years later and 6 years after going pro, he has still not managed to head down there for a visit.

Don't know about you guys but with me the first thing i think about when i'm saving money, is to save for a trip to El Salvador. This guys had 6 years of getting a relatively good pay cheak and he still hasn't bothered to save up a few hundred bucks for a ticket. Am i the only one that finds that odd? If he really wanted to go wouldn't he have done it already? I mean even for 1-2 weeks, it's not that hard is it? And don't get me wrong, this isn't necessarily just an anti-Alvarez thing on my part, i felt/feel the same way about Miranda.

I mean you look at the others and there's Burgos who even though he might want to, can't leave the country; Purdy who granted has only this year pretty much gone pro and would be making decent money and Mayen. Now Mayen, is the complete opposite. He made an effort to go to El Salvador and was willing to not only train, but sign with one of our clubs. Now this is before he went pro, and for that, i have to give him my respect. Alvarez on the other hand just seems to not care.

 

I agree with el_cuscatleco I don't want Alvarez in la seleccion, he needs to prove to us that he will come play his hardest. If he just comes he will be like the Mexican players that come to rest and to take care of their ankles when they go to their national team. I say we leave him out of this hexagonal and call him up next year if he really wants to play we will know.