I had always sort of assumed this was either a prank or a case of mistaken identity (perhaps that he was with an American club named FC Barcelona) but never looked into it. There's no mention of a player of this name on any of FCB's academy rosters that he'd most likely be on (98, 99 and 00 squads). A young player of this name was linked with Jaguares de Chiapas in 2011. http://www.laprensaenlinea.com/depo...o-busca-talento-en-el-inland.ece?ssimg=271002 This might be him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Da_Ruelas99
Goalkeeper Stuart Johnstone is listed on Transfermarkt with FC Vernier, a lower level Swiz team. http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/stuart-johnstone/profil/spieler_319398.html
Well, he does seem to exist... http://mobile.football.ch/fvnws/it/start.aspx?tg=2251661&&tga=ta ... which I'm sure will thrill his family. This sounds like a job for @RobtheAggie!
I have contacted the club, within 5 min I received a response: (English Translation) Bonjour, (Hello) Je n’ai pas trouvé le renseignement demandé, mais j’ai transféré votre demande à M. Nicati. (I have not found the requested information, but I will transfer/send your request to M. Nicati) Bonne journée et merci pour votre soutien. (Have a good day and thank you for your support.) Sarah Porret His picture is here on the FC La Chaux-de-Fonds website. http://www.fccnet.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=136&Itemid=39 He did not get off the bench in this weekends match against FC La Sarraz-Eclépens.
This fellow, Victor Salazar, is supposedly American-born. However, he doesn't seem to actually be with Bogota FC (in Colombia) anymore and I haven't' been able to easily find him. http://sistema.www.dimayorcolombia.com/info/participante/20634/show/iframe/1.html I believe there is another player with this name, which muddies things a bit. That guy is at Atletico Huila.
TribalFootball writes: Sky Sports suggests that Ellis Plummer, Shay Facey and Jordy Hiwulu have all agreed new deals with City after impressing at various levels of the youth academy this season. 19-year old American-born centre-back Plummer... http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/man-city-secure-young-trio-new-deal-4017309#.U00_AvldV7c The source may be Wikipedia, which says he was born in California. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Plummer The Sky article mentioned above doesn't say anything about America. http://www1.skysports.com/football/...er-shay-facey-and-jordy-hiwulu-sign-new-deals On MCFC's web site, he's said to have been born in England. They would probably know. http://www.mcfc.com/elite-development-squad/defenders/ellis-plummer http://www.transfermarkt.com/en/ellis-plummer/profil/spieler_183771.html In any case, he's a '94. Posting this here so as not to get people too excited for now...
Still nothing from FC Vernier. I have tried another venue. For what it is worth, FC Vernier has won 3 in a row to climb out of the relegation zone. For what it is worth, he did not play this weekend 4-1 win, nor was he on the bench not listed among the absent. http://www.al-la.ch/fr/Ligue-Amateu...s-2014/ls-11934/sg-35871/v-0/a-tg/tg-2142566/
Does anyone know Robert Piedra? Plays in the Spanish Liga Adelante (D2) with Recreativo Huelva. American player.— Joe Gould (@twelfthyank) April 24, 2014
As for an update, my contact in Geneva looked into it and nothing. The club still has not responded. Sorry. As an aside, I still have not heard back from M. Nicati as well.
Not on the roster page and a search of the club site didn't turn up much. http://www.recreativohuelva.com/plantilla Wiki seems to be the only place that confirms this.
Meet Zach Sanders AKA Zak Anthony Sanders, just another 15yo plying his trade in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, specifically with Doğan Türk Birliği Spor Kulübü (probably your first guess)- http://www.ktff.org/BilgiBankasi/FutbolcuDetayi/932 Per soccer-talents, he's an American defender- http://www.soccer-talents.com/Zak_Anthony_Sanders-3_7-183605-12.html
Per soccer-talents, Braian Shirmann AKA Braian Seller Sherman, a '96 goalkeeper with FC São Paulo, is Brazilian-American- http://www.soccer-talents.com/Braian_Seller_Sherman-3_7-51699-12.html
Per soccer-talents, Muhammed Samih Sissoho, an '87 offensive all-rounder with Gambian top flight club Banjul Hawks, is Gambian-American- http://www.soccer-talents.com/Muhammed_Samih_Sissoho-3_7-52215-12.html
Facebook turns out a couple of profiles for guys with names like this. The more likely one points to a guy named "Schirrman" whose profile says he's a GK at Rio Branco. That club's roster page has a GK named "Bryan" who could be the same guy based on the name and the photos. http://www.riobrancoesporteclube.com.br/atletas-comissao-tecnica/ As for the American connection, I couldn't say.
I can't easily find a shred of information about this guy that's not on the Soccer-Talents family of sites.
There seem to be lots of players on the Soccer Talents sites who basically seem to have been added by ... themselves. Guys who put themselves on Manchester United, or put up their fraternity teams or whatever. The site may try to keep things relatively clean, but it's messy enough that I don't take their listings at face value (though their track record is decent).
That reminds me, according to soccer-talents, Testudo McGee, a '73 striker born in Washington, DC, is with Real Madrid. Link to come. I haven't found any other data on him, but I'm pretty sure he'll have a Wikipedia page soon.
OWTY with an update and confirmation: http://owhentheyanks.com/2014/04/29/99-german-american-selected-into-german-u15-side/
Does anybody know if Prince Lapnet, formerly of UCLA, might have acquired American citizenship? He was raised in the DC area but was born in France. He appears to be with FC Jazz in Finland now. http://www.fcjazz.com/edustusjoukkue/joukkue
Since that match, he has not played in any match, nor made the substitutes bench. It might be possible that his is with the club but on a 2nd or 3rd team. If that is the case, info will be really hard. On the more positive note, M. Nicati did respond. He can be considered a Yank abroad. No specifics, but we can add him.
Hey @Testudo (and others) have you figured out the Transfermarkt redesign? I haven't quickly been able to work out whether they still have an advanced search function, which was extremely useful. The previous link for that is now dead.