Agreed, would love if he was eligible for USMNT but he's not. Born in Uruguay to Uruguayan parents, they moved to Leominster when he was 5. His dad played in Uruguay and he went down to play for the U20 team. He is American in many ways but from what I've read really has his heart set on playing for Uruguay. Wish him the best though, kid's a true talent.
Nguyen and Rowe make TotW. Fagundez on the bench, and Heaps is the coach. Team of the Week (Wk 14): Lions' defense shows big June 5, 2017, 4:17PM EDT Steve Brisendine
Actually, playing for either the US or Uruguay isn't his choice. Uruguay is the only country he is elligible to play for, so that's that. In another time, when the political climate was a little, um, different, maybe something could be done, but I saw David Regis play, and believe me, he's no David Regis.... Regarding the second part of the quoted, there is a huge difference between an "ex-pat" and an immigrant. An immigrant typically moves to another country with their family as a permanent move, and often completely assimilate after a couple of genrerations. Most ex-pats go to live in another country for a few years and go for the experience, but eventually return home. It can be an amazing experience if you can take it all in. OTOH, the ones I despised the most are those who don't bother to try to learn the language, aren't interested in the culture, and complain that even the McDonald's doesn't make a good hamburger like the do back home.
Agree with you on ex-pat complainers but there are plenty of the equivalent in this country. Human nature I guess.
My point was... he's lived most of is life here and Id be shocked that if any point, he'll be moving to Uruguay to live. Assuming that part is true, maybe he should pursue getting his citizenship while he's still young? He might have a shot at the US team (like Dom Dwyer) while playing for Uruguay is likely to be little more than the Rossi dream of playing for Italy. Rossi did play some but not that much and that's now over. I think Diego would have a decent shot of making the US team if he tried. Anyway, US is is best shot for him at this point
As @VTSoccerFan mentioned, there is speculation that Fagundez is no longer eligible to play for the US. Additionally, you keep criticizing Rossi but he was clearly good enough to represent Italy before his career was derailed by injuries.
No doubt Fagundez could have/would have gotten a look at some point with the US, but that ship has sailed. In fact, it never even made it to the port. It isn't a matter of him not wanting to pursue US Citizenship, but not being able to. There are political realities that are factors in people's lives, even professional athletes who make good money and have the support of people like the Krafts, who certainly have enough friends in high places. You can't just pull strings because the US needs another border-line player who might blossom into a star at some point.
Wait, I'm confused... He got his green card in 2013. Why can't he become a US Citizen? IIRC, he got tired of waiting for the citizenship and/or a US call up to any age team in favor of playing for his birth country which did call him up to their U20s briefly. That doesn't mean he can't get US Citizenship AFAIK, just that he can no longer play for the USA by FIFA rules.
Rules Change May Allow German to Play for U.S. By Jack bell for the New York Times June 16, 2009 This article focuses on Jermaine Jones's opportunity to play for the USMNT. However, it does contain the following text which I think is important when applying this rule to Diego. Regarding Dwyer, he has never played an official game for England so he is not cap tied. This makes his situation different than that of Diego. Dwyer's marriage to a US citizen makes him eligible for the USMNT as he is not cap tied elsewhere (like Regis prior to 1998). Would Dwyer's marriage make him USMNT eligible if he was previously cap tied to England? I doubt it, but if so, I would infer that if Diego married a US citizen then the same would apply to him.
I don't think Dwyer's marital status means anything. He became a US citizen himself, in March: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/03/16/sporting-kansas-citys-dom-dwyer-gets-us-citizenship
You are right. I guess I was stretching to apply a possibility to Diego and mixing Regis and Dwyer into the scenario.
Because Diego was not eligible at the time he played for Uruguay in an official competition (not just a friendly), he is not eligible under current FIFA rules for a switch to the USMNT. The only way he will ever play for the US is if FIFA changes their rules. Hadthe US expedited Diego's citizenship to allow Diego to play for us back in 2013 when he stated he wanted to play for us in the U20 WC, then he'd likely be a USMNT player eligible to make the one-time switch to Uruguay if he so chose. But, that ship has sailed. I have no beef with him choosing to play for Uruguay immediately over waiting to possibly play for the US at some future point in time. Playing for Uruguay is better for him professionally (a whole new network of scouts), and allows him to follow in his father's footsteps. Plus, why should he wait around begging for a chance to represent a country in which he and his family are clearly unwanted by a significant minority of the population? Uruguay, both the country and the team, wanted him. The US, both the country and the team, did not. http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/mls-usmnt/2015/1/5/7495277/diego-fagundez-usa-citizen-uruguay