In the case of Emile Van Gheem, it has been about notifying interested parties that he could be on the radar for the U.S. or Belgium in the future. Young Van Gheem, born in 2003, is just at the start of his playing career, but he has already shown qualities that could parlay into a look from a national team in the future. Currently, Emile Van Gheem plays for K. Lierse S.C., a team in the Belgian Second Divison. Despite the fact that the first team was relegated to the second division of Belgium’s professional league, the youth team is still playing in elite in the youth league. Van Gheem is playing up an age group with the club’s U14 side. Van Gheem was born and raised in Belgium, and his mom says that he is planning to be there for the foreseeable future. “Although he thinks of playing for D.C. United when he is 18 years old,” [his mother Rachel] Alexander added. Alexander is a U.S. citizen, which offers the opportunity to Emile Van Gheem to play for the U.S. at the international level. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club...rospects:-us-prospect-vying-for-look_aid37714
You're thinking of Sherif Fayed: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/sherif-fayed-at-sk-lierse.1805622/ And if you like to go even further back, there was the journeyman known as Chuck Kim (kinda): http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/chuck-kim-sk-lierse.361734/
Damn I'm always impressed by your memory. What about that kid who popped up recent who was Egyptian and American but was in Canada, I don't know what team he was training with. EDIT: I think he had something to do with Toronto FC
Well, it is still early days! They did a study in Belgium that researched your chances of going pro if you play elite soccer at different ages. Even kids playing elite in the U17 age group have only a 2% or 3% chance to go pro! You have to have a lot of discipline and perhaps even more luck
Update Emile Van Gheem: has been selected for the PJO which is a talent scouting part of the Royal Belgian Football Association. According to the Belgian Football Association: "For more than 40 years players with talent have been specially scouted by the KBVB (Belgian Football Association) and called up to play test matches against the top players in the different provinces of Belgium. This gives youngsters the chance to compare themselves to the strongest football players in the different provinces of Belgium. In the past this has led to a career as a professional football player and even a call up to the Red Devils. The scouts all have at least an UEFA-B diploma and talentscout diploma. The scouts select the most technical players. The U14 and U15 get the chance in April and May to play in the national football stadium in Tubeke. In addition, football players selected for U14 or U15 have the chance to obtain a Top Sport Attest allowing them to attend the top sport school."
Emile Van Gheem update: Emile made it to the final of the PJO where the 20 best players from each province in Belgium (there are 10 provinces in Belgium) play against each other in the national training facility in Tubize. This is part of the scouting mechanism for the Belgian Youth National Team. Emile is also taking technical training in Genk. Hopefully soon he will be able to show his abilities to the US ;-)!
Keep posting updates here. I'm near convinced they read these boards as a way of getting updates on players and learning about new ones.
An update from the fam: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/yanks-on-foreign-ynts.896049/page-54#post-36567970
Paul Tenorio is close family friends with him, I would DM him and ask... Low and behold I’d need to be a verified twitter user to do so. If only one of us had the resources to do so... :/