http://www.werder-online.de/regionalliga/aktuelles/meldung.php?id=11426 Funny enough, Kicker didn't list Heider as having scored, but lo and behold- the Werder Bremen site does! We'll go with Werder Bremen- they should be able to distinguish their own players! Heider now with 4 goals in 6 games (only played 5) and is tied for 2nd in BL Nord (3rd division). Only 21, but I guess there is *some* question if he is US-eligible? Would be nice to clear that up, since the kid *may* just see the big team this year at this rate...
With the midfield problems Werder is facing right now it's definitly possible. Young Harnik got his chance already. Heider is playing in a very talented environment there. Bremen's U23 is everything 96's reservers are not. They offer a great chance to develop as a player whereas 96's reserves to quote a poster of the German board "are a black hole that sucks all the talent out of the players" (so let's better hope Zizzo makes the first team fast). Someone needs to finally clear the issue wheather he's even eligible for you guys or not though. Maybe this is an assignment for smithfan, a fellow BS poster and founder of the German fussballtalente-homepage.
I agree. So many here like to be negative on chasing down this stuff, but the US Men's Nat team is as depth-challenged as ever (and by that, I mean depth WITH TALENT challenged. We've got plenty of MLS guys who COULD play in the World Cup 2010 team..just none that you would want to (or will ever be good enough too). Heider is playing well. He must be on the radar for a first-team spot, if he keeps this up. Heider is also a long-shot, but I have a lot of respect for Bremen's youth development, and they have a long history of producing great players. I also love HOW they play (creative, offensive, and somewhat un-German like ). So, hell....we are inviting Davies, K.Hill, Zizzo and others to get capped...simply because they've shown something and we are 3 years from the Cup. Why not make a little extra effort to track down this guy's status? Might as well. Doesn't make us desperate, just makes us realists....
Maybe the USSF has done that already, come to the conclusion he won't play for the US, and just not bothered to post it on BS.
I think a much more likely scenario is that they have no clue who the guy is, and will only learn about him thru BS..
a 21 year old, of unclear nationality, playing at a level that is officially considered amateur? And he is not on the USSF screen? I would fire the bunch of those hacks! By the way, we have a kid in our pick-up game who is fantastic. I wonder if he is on the USSF radar?
Werder's second team is top class. If he's eligible for the US and not even on the radar of the USSF some things are going wrong. They should at least give him a look for the U23 team, I agree that it's a stretch right now to call him up for the first team without Bundesliga experience. Regionalliga is a fully professional league these days btw.
US scouts have watched Marc Heider during the last match... What does he actually have to do with the US? I know he was born in Sacramento, but he moved to Germany 1 year after his birth...are his parents German or American?
Being born here makes him a US citizen automatically. Interesting, if true, that there were USSF people there. Who, I wonder? Smithfan, do you have any idea who they were? National team guys or maybe even MLS scouts? Just wondering, were you there, or is this third hand information? I don't doubt you, but just wondering.
I have that info from a Werder Bremen insider who knows his stuff usually. He said today that scouts from the US federation were there to watch him...That's all I know.
If this in any way means that USSF scouts picked up on Heider thru the BS message boards- I have only one statement for them: "You guys better fix (and now) whatever the hell you are teaching to the 'most talented' US soccer players in the U-17 age category.....because whatever it is, it is piss poor and those guys could not 1 v 1 dribble a decent college girl team player, nor do they know how to run off the ball, nor do they have vision on the field. That display in Korea was disgusting". Thank you.
Here's his page at Werder's site for what it's worth: http://www.werder-online.de/regionalliga/spieler/heider.php
We already determined that he DIDN'T play with Germany youth national teams...correct? So no issues there?
He did not play for Germany (yet) but (!) he could still play for their U21 team (1986 born) and Germany does not have a lot of good forwards in their U21, so it might be possible that he is called up if he continues to score like he's doing now. For example, the only real striker currently in Germany's U21 is a Regionalliga-Player like Heider who scored 9 goals last season. Heider has already 4 goals in 6 matches....