I think Alecko Eskandarian wants to play for Iran. If the Iran NT was to ask he would. Playing for the U.S could make him look like a traitor. Alecko would certainly want to play for his country, especially if your dad was on the biggest world cup team for Iran until 98'. Alecko should be getting more minutes on the team because he is a proven scorer, but he won't. Eskandarian wants to play for Iran, but doesn't think he can play much on the team, yet he's only 21. He wants to become great and he thinks the US NT will give him that possibility faster, but they wont.
Yes, my parents came from Iran and i was born in Illinois. Just because a player was born in America doesn't make them American. Adu was born in Ghana and Ching in Canada and they arent considered ghanian or canadian. Eskandarian has more Iranian in him then American, look at skin color and the blood running through out his body. Iranian/Armenian His parents moved here for a better life, why would they want their child to go back to Iran to play for Youth programs. America has better Youth Programs then Iran bc of the funding Iran doesn't.
the problem is Iran wont want him either because of the player traffic we already have. i'm not even gonna go into the argument of "Iran is better than US or the other way around" but there is an issue with non-native players playin for national teams. for example US never gonna even talk about adu bein from ghana as long as he plays good soccer he is an AMERICAN the minute he is off the soccer spot lights he is just an other AFRICAN ... but i guess its a trade off that non-native soccer players have to face if they want to continue playin soccer... whoes fault is that? of course the country that they were born in, which couldn't keep them... anyways no matter which team he plays for good luck to Alecko Eskandarian...
What is the skin color of an American? What is different about the blood running through the bodies of Americans and Iranians? Isn't Eddie Pope American? How about Landon Donovan? Brian Ching? What, to repeat the question, is THE skin color of AN American?
Since I know Alecko's dad, whom I have played with and know from the Cosmo days, let me just say that he wants his son to play for the US and that he is also proud of his Iranian heritage. The thing is, he knows his son is American through and through. His heritage is in Iran, but he is as American as it gets. I'm blond haired and blue eyed and my parents are from Germany...so what? I live, work and have grown up here. This is my country even though I speak German, look German and have relatives there. I am an American. If you didn't know Alecko was of Iranian descent, and you met him, I guarantee you would be calling him a typical American (deragoatory remark here), blah, blah, blah... I love when people don't know a person make up his mind for him. Only a child (14 or under), or an unstable immature adult could do that. Then again, this is an internet board and that's what makes it fun. The little immature ones.
When Alecko entered the league, there was a thread on Irankicks about him. One of the posters said that Alecko has made it very clear that he feels no connection to Iran.
Freddy Adu was born in Ghana but is an American citizen. Alecko Eskandarian was born in New Jersey and is thus an American citizen by birth. They both live and work in the United States. Their families live in the United States. Why would they play anywhere else?
I would really like someone to tell me what an American looks like. I have absolutely no idea what skin color has to do with anything. The reason Freddy Adu isnt considered Ghanian and Ching isnt considered Canadian is that they immigrated here and are American citizens now. They are as American as anyone, but if you have a problem with that you can call them a Ghanian/American or some other PC Bull********** like that.
Maybe Alecko wants to play for Armenia. Ever consider that SockersFC? Think before you post. Edit: In what has been an irritating day around BS, this has got to be the most ridiculous thread today. Please explain, SockersFC. Really, I am trying to understand your thought process here. What does skin color have to do with anything? Why does the birthplace of his father matter? Does ethnicity matter? If not why? Why should he want to play for Iran any more than for Armenia?
We really need some clarification on the skin color deal. At minimum, I would like to see a graphic chart or skin tone color wheel so that I can get my head around the concept of "American skin color".
I think Alecko will play for the USA if he can. he would be a stranger among the Iranian players. He's at home in the US, he is American. Plus his father having played for the Shahist Iran probably doesn't have much love for the current Iran. I'd say anyone who really thinks Alecko will go and play for Iran is dreaming. If he did, he'd be a traitor to his father, the other Shah loyalist Iranians in America and to the USA.
Here is the facts: 1. Alecko Eskandarian has never officially said anything on this issue. 2. Andranik Eskandarian ( Alecko's father ) has officially said in several interviews that he would want his son to play for Iran but it's his son's decision and not his. 3. Andranik Eskandarian is not a Shah loyalist. Not every Iranian who migrates to North America is a Shahi. 4. Alecko Eskandarian can travel to Iran and play for the Iran national team but it's very unlikely he will. 5. Unlike Ferydoon Zandi, the Iranian-German player, Alecko Eskandarian has never been invited or scouted by Iran's coach or IFF.
I consider this as a first generation vs. second generation struggle. Reyna's father wants him to play for Argentina, but the son didn't do it. Donovan's father is Canadian and he is also scouted by Ireland, but he did not play for either. Onyewu got called by Nigerian NT, but even as he loves Nigeria so much, he said that is too late since he played for US since 16. Adu got called by Ghana FA and his mother wants him to play for Ghana, but he didn't see a future there. Szetela got called by Polish FA (they did get another kid playing for them) but he didn't go. So far, only Rossi choosed the Italy over US (from the pressure of his father). There are always this father vs. son game going on. But for kids, it is depends on where their hearts are and also which team give them a better opportunity to play for World Cup.
This came from an article in the washington post from the mls cup weekend http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48285-2004Nov13_2.html "[Alecko's father is] An Armenian descendant who grew up in Tehran, he played in the 1978 World Cup for Iran before playing for the Cosmos from 1979 through 1984" so looks like alecko's father was a traitor to Armenia just like Alecko would be a traitor to Iran considering this logic.....i see no reason for him to play in iran....i would say that US plays more important games than Iran...concacaf is one confederation that i would say has more exicting important games that the asian confederation
Proven? Sockers, he's only been a pro for two years, and this was his first big season. What did you expect us to do? Cap him last year when he only scored 3 goals? If he wasn't scoring a brace in MLS Cup this past Sunday, I gurantee you he would've been in Columbus, Ohio with the USA National team for the World Cup Qualifer against Jamaica. Don't worry, there's an extremely good chance Alecko will be be called into the USA camp in the very near future. Bruce Arena isn't stupid enough not to give the top overall goal scorer in MLS at least a look.
He's not Armenian descendant like his father came to Iran 50 years ago. His parents were not born in Armenia neither were his grandparents or great grandparents. He's ETHNIC Armenian-Iranian. Iranian is not an ethnicity but rather a nationality. You could be Kurd, Persian, Turk or Armenian in Iran. What matters is they are all Iranians by nationality.
I think you're confusing Brian Ching with Mark Chung. Chung was orginally from Canada I believe, but I'm pretty sure Brian Ching was born and raised in Hawaii and thus is American by birth. As far as Alecko goes, to say that he hasn't publicly said anything about it may be true, I don't know. But it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that he's already played for the US National Team and he's an American by birth. Anyone who thinks he's gonna play for Iran seems a little deluded to me. Not to mention the whole comment knocking the USNT compared to Iran- that's just bizarre. Iran is a soccer nation with a proud past and a promising future, but to say playing for the US will hurt Alecko's career is silly.
By the way, I thought the poll was asking if Alecko wanted to play for Iran so I voted no, then realized that it was asking if he wanted to play for the US (which seems like a silly question since he already has played for the US- why would he do it if he didn't want to?)
Wow, it looks like the stupidity of Yanks Abroad has seeped into the Persian forum. Of course, its pretty sad when the Persians around here have to hope for a US player to help them qualify for the World Cup when he can't get a look in for the US nats. Perhaps with a player like Eskandarian you might hope to actually beat Bahrain.