Najar more than the next Adu It wasn't long ago that Andy Najar was plucked from daily pickup games in front of Edison High to star for the school's varsity soccer team. These days it's the Honduran national federation, who would gladly like the 17-year-old in their own player pool. Perhaps the U.S. team is next. "I was fortunate enough to be here through the whole Freddy [Adu] mania," said United goalkeeper Troy Perkins. "I'm telling you that this kid's far beyond that now." He was born in Honduras and moved to the US 3 years ago. I do not imagine he is a US citizen, but this article made me wonder. Does anyone know?
Notice the pronunciation guide in that article, because apparently I've been saying his name wrong for quite a while now. The j is silent. Makes sense, after all it's a Honduran name. Andy Nuh-HAR
Don't see any reason to assume he has any leanings toward the U.S. This kid is a Honduran national team prospect until he drops a quote that puts that into question.
I know what you mean but the tone of the article suggests he himself hasn't made a decision (or maybe no one has called).
Sounds to me like the Honduran Federation probably had no reason to know he existed in a footballing sense. Heck his high school didn't know about him until someone saw him in a pickup game from the sounds of things.
Based on everything in the atricle it appears he is on path to play for the US. He's only 17 so there's more than enough time for him to earn US citizenship.
If he's here with his parents and they get citizenship before he turns 18, that's probably the quickest road for him. The high school story is not all that uncommon in the D.C. area or anywhere. I've heard lots of stories of coaches who "didn't know what they had," so to speak, and didn't know how to reach out into various pockets within their own schools. Meantime, recent immigrants and their parents may not know much about how American high school sports and culture. I don't know if/how this came into play in Andy's situation but it's certainly a very real dynamic.
?? Neither article suggests he plans on playing for the US. Don't know where you got that from. The kid moved to the US four years ago and one would be crazy to think he wouldn't want to play for Honduras. The Honduran FA is already on it and it's only matter of time before they make contact with the kid. Whether or not he'll end up playing for Honduras remains to be seen, he might feel the US is a better option.
I read the MLSNET and the Examiner articles. The statement above is a stretch to say the least. He's definitely a citizen of Honduras and not the U.S. His favorite player is Wilson Palacios. I saw no evidence that suggested he was considering the U.S over Honduras. Until he says something that implies otherwise, he's a Honduran player IMO.
"He was named to the United States Soccer Federation Development Academy East Conference Starting XI in 2009 and he was the leading scorer in the US Developmental Academy Finals in Los Angeles in 2009 as well as being the 2009 D.C. " This is the part of the article which I was referring to. If his intent is to play for Hondurus..why are we still inviting him to participate in our USSF programs.
I understand. And I hope you understand the same from me. Neither of us have any way of knowing his intentions. For me, because of his citizenship status, his limited time living in The States, and the lack of any statement declaring national team intentions, he's far closer to Honduran than American. I recall the quote you referred to earlier. But, I don't think there are any real qualifiers to being a part of the U.S. development system outside of the necessary talent. But yes he was a part of the U.S. system of academies, so maybe there's a bit of indoctrination associated with feeling a part of that system. Nations aside, I look forward to seeing him play. The endorsements from his team and from management do pique my interest.
because he lives in the US and DCU's academy is not set up to strictly develop US talent, but rather local talent regardless of nationality
Najar was playing for a club team. I'm sure there are numerous foreigners that participate in the USSF Development Academy. He wasn't invited to residency or anything and, even then, being invited to residency these days doesn't ensure that a player is going to play for the US.
I bet if we look at FCD's squad that is part of the USSF Development Academy.........at least 25% of the kids aren't US citizens. (Just pulling that out of my ass. I have no idea. Leyva wasn't. Luna and Ulloa aren't, etc. etc.) Perhaps the USSF has already called Najar to find out what his intentions are. I fully understand why the USMNT loses out on players like Shalrie Joseph, Bakary Soumare, Vedad Ibisevic, etc. But if we can get to these 16-17 years olds early enough to let them know we're interested, perhaps they'll wait it out. Maybe that's just wishful thinking. If Najar is called up to Honduras' U20s...........how is he going to turn that down?
There seems to be conflicting information about his status. Both Goff and The Examiner said he had a work visa. (Goff said he had to go back to Honduras to get one.) Yet the club claims he has a Green Card. Granted, I could be wrong but as I understand it, Green Card holders are considered permanent residents and on issues of employment have the same rights as US citizens. A US citizen doesn't have to get a work visa so why would a Green Card holder? When you get a Green Card, do you have to return to your native country to have it issued there? If so, perhaps that's what he got when he returned to Honduras and there was just a misunderstanding of terms by the media. But otherwise, something doesn't add up (not excluding the possibility that I could have my understanding of how thise things work wrong).
It could be possible he was here on a student visa first (the stories have mentioned his completing high school). In order for him to get the job with the team and the green card, he would need to leave the country and apply for the work visa at the U.S. consulate or embassy in Honduras. I'm certain all that would've been worked out in advance by the team's/league's immigration lawyers so that he wouldn't get stuck in Honduras. I believe you can get the green card here, but the visa is another story. I could be wrong, but had a friend go through this process once and that was my memory of the events.
Work permit usually comes before the green card. So either he has a work permit and is waiting for his green card or he's already got his green card thus making the work permit useless.
Here's the story from a local paper a few years ago (Andy Rodriguez = Andy Najar) http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=312487&paper=86&cat=222
San Jose Earthquakes also signed a 17-year old Gambian. Anyone know if he plans to try for the US national team?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy.../13/AR2010041302813_2.html?hpid=moreheadlines Article on Najar with quotes from Rongen (nothing about Najar playing for U.S.)