Apparently he started the game at left back and then switched to right back when the coach made a tactical change after 22 minutes: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...ht_vfl-wolfsburg-24_1899-hoffenheim-3209.html
Because he's a US citizen (or can claim citizenship) who is playing overseas??? He's not the first (Darren Randolph, Giuseppe Rossi, Neven Subotic) to be kept track of here & he won't be the last. Whether he should be the last is another matter, but that means changing BS' YA criteria and I'm not sure you want to start that shitstorm .
The 5th post in what became the "Gedion Zelalem at Arsenal" thread: So the chance of this guy ever representing the US is nil........ You are probably right about him never representing the US, but, if somebody wants to talk about him, what does it matter?
On Friday Hoffenheim lost 1-0 at home to Hamburg. Toljan played the full 90 minutes. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...cht_1899-hoffenheim-3209_hamburger-sv-12.html Hoffenheim sits in the relegation zone, one spot above last-placed Augsburg.
Toljan not playing and not on the bench right now in Hoffenheim's home game against Borussia Monchengladbach. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...99-hoffenheim-3209_borussia-mgladbach-15.html
Da der gemeinsame US-amerikanische Vater schon vor Jeremys Geburt starb, haben die Geschwister eine sehr starke Bindung zu ihrer kroatischen Mutter. Zusammen verbrachten sie in der Jugend viele Ferien im ebenfalls fußballbegeisterten Land. Obwohl er beide Pässe besitzt, fühlt sich Jeremy aber als Deutscher: "Da muss ich momentan natürlich noch kleine Brötchen backen und mich erst einmal bei der TSG durchsetzen. Aber jeder Fußballer hat natürlich das Ziel, irgendwann in der Nationalmannschaft zu spielen. Ich spiele seit der U17 für Deutschland und noch nie darüber nachgedacht, für Kroatien aufzulaufen." http://www.achtzehn99.de/aktuelles/ueberblick/jeremy-toljan-fortschritt-durch-rueckschritt/ "Since his American father died before Jeremy's birth, the siblings have a strong bond to their Croatian mother. They spend many holidays in the equally football-crazy country. Although he holds both passports, Jeremy feels German: "I have to remain modest and first assert myself in Hoffenheim. But every footballer has the dream of playing for the National Team one day. I'm playing for Germany since the U17, and I've never thought about playing for Crotia."
Toljan is playing left back right now in Hoffenheim's game away to Dortmund. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...orussia-dortmund-17_1899-hoffenheim-3209.html
Vigorous discussion is constantly deadened by the heavy handed moderators on this site, so interest in discussion is not enough around these parts.
I don't see why the thought of him playing for the US is so pessimistic. I'm not saying it should necessarily be optimistic but until these dual nats are set in another NT the discussion should hold merit. This is not taking into account the individual players' desires, both current and future, as I know neither, but just in a more general sense of these things. Looking at Jermaine Jones and FabJo, who both had very similar international trajectories with Germany, who were both above average players YNT they made their switches far later than the point Toljan is at now after they ultimately never really made the cut as tried and true NT members for Germany. I'm not inclined enough to actual check and wasn't really around when both of them were Toljan's age but I could imagine the discussions would have been very similar to this one on whether either of them would someday play for the US. Just looking at the squad announced today for their friendlies against Italy and England, Low has brought in only one new face, highly touted CB Jonthan Tah and even left out some major names as well. It's only a few months until Euros so that's not entirely unexpected but the fact remains that Germany will always have lots of top, top talent fighting for limited spots. The slew of talent above him in line with the NT at both fullack positions is daunting (Schmelzer, Durm, Hector, Ginter, Rudy) as well as the fact there's plenty of guys in the youth ranks both at his level and below that could easily prove the better fully developed players. Basically just trying to say just because he's making consistent moves up the German ladder and has shown no desire as of now to play doesn't mean it's a already a done deal. Much less likely things have happened and plus, reiterating @BostonRed, what's the harm in kicking around relevant updates and occasional assessments? Situations change, people change, etc, etc.
I do think he is more of a long-shot though, because (1) he has Croatian eligibility, (2) he's never bothered to get a US passport and that will take some work, (3) his connection to the country is through his dad who died a long time ago, and (4) he seemed indifferent to the US NT when Brian interviewed him. The Croatian factor is why I think he will never play for the US and that's different from the other two players. He's got a very solid safety school and he can only change allegiances once.
This is how I feel too American fans should follow him if they feel so inclined But as a prospective USMNT player? I wouldn't get my hopes up. He seemed really indifferent to it. And that's fine
Not possessing a passport while eligible for one is different than not being a citizen. FIFA has generally considered anyone eligible because of birthplace or heritage to be a holder of that citizenship at birth, regardless of whether the person actually has gone through the process of obtaining the passport. They treat it differently than a player who naturalizes after birth. Citizenship (by blood or soil) is immutable (generally). The passport is simply the document that confirms it. So not possessing the actual passport doesn't prevent him from a future one-time switch to that country.
There is one glaring difference between FabJo/Jones and Toljan...With FabJo/Jones we didn't make a play for them in the early years. With Toljan, we have. I would rather have in my squad someone that at the very least have some inclination to play for America because he wants to rather than play because that is his last resort.
I think they would have been politely string us along for a while. With Toljan, I don't even see that.