http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/11/soumare.html Bakary Soumare thought he was close to realizing a dream, but had little idea just how far away he was. A native of Mali, Soumare spent his formative years as a soccer player in the United States, where his game was honed and reputation made. He owed much of his success as a player to his adopted home country and planned on repaying America by wearing its uniform. At least that was the plan before he was faced with the harsh reality that he would have to wait at least two more years to receive American citizenship. That fact forced him to make a decision that he not only felt was better for his career, but a decision that he knew some close to him would be very happy with. Soumare has decided to play for the Mali national team.
I was very much looking forward to seeing Bakary don the jersey of the good ol' red, white and blue. I know some people don't feel we need a player who didn't develope through "our" ranks, but here is a guy who totally appreciates what the U.S. has done for him and his soccer career and wanted to represent it. I wish him all the luck in the world, just wish it would've worked out for him to play for the USMNT.
Crap, I wish him luck, he would've been a nice addition to the pool. IMO, this even further intensifies the need to get Subotic in our shirt, we just don't have enough young, quality defenders coming up. Bakary isn't on Subotic's level, but has a very high ceiling. I expect we'll see him move abroad in the next 2 years.
I was really hoping that Baky would play for us, but I can't blame him for not wanting to wait 2 more years to play internationally. Really unfortunate for the USMNT, but I hope he plays great for Mali (and for the Fire at least a few more years). Something also tells me that if this were any other country, Soumare would have already had his citizenship the moment they realized he could play on the national team....
What a shame, especially for the U.S. I'm happy for Bakary that he has another legitimate option, but it's too bad he didn't get the process started sooner.
I wouldn't have minded seeing him play with the USMNT, but it also gives MLS another quality international player to boost its reputation.
This is a pretty big bummer. The number of quality center back prospects under the age of 23 in our country is astonishingly low (Spector, Orozco, and ...that's about it for now). I was pretty hopeful that things would work out for Soumare to play for us, so this is quite a let down for me. I wish him luck & hope his decision works out for him.
I'm flattered that he wanted to play for us, but I respect his decision. Having to wait until you are at least 24, and then not having a gaurenteed spot vs. playing now for your native country? Easy choice.
There's also Brek Shea, Mykell Bates, and surely plenty of others that we don't know about yet. I'm not too concerned. Since we are talking about the full NT and not a youth NT, we can afford to have a wide range of players. I mean, Gooch is only 26, so we can expect several more productive years out of him. Assuming we are dealing with an age group of 20-32, we shouldn't experience a major gap. Knock on wood...
For a little while at least. I think it's pretty clear that playing for Mali is going to work better if his club career is based out of Europe and that is part of the decision making process here.
Best of luck to him.. He wanted to play for the US but I understand his decision. It's nobody's fault, it's just too bad.
No it is someone's fault but not in the soccer world. First rule here on BS; its always someone's fault.
I'm saddened to some degree because I really wanted Soumare to represent the country he's has grown to love and adore. I had dreams of a Subotic-Soumare combo for years to come. One one is gone and the other might be, too. Man, the dreams have been crushed!! On the other hand, I totally understand and respect Soumare's decision. I'd do the same if I were in his shoes. The timing sucks, though. There was an opportunity for Soumare to capitalize on his success and he took it. Mali should be proud to have him. They have a very good and upcoming squad backboned by Diarra, Sissoko, Keita, Kanouté, and Diakité, who reminds me of a young Patrick Vieira. With Soumare's talent he should fit right in and could provide a stable, effective, and skillful young defender. The US may of lost him but the development of Soumare, when he does eventually move to Europe, is something MLS can hang their hat on. It will look good for the league. Who knows, maybe he becomes an ambassador of sorts for the league and can inspire some young talent Malians to look into MLS.
I know you are joking, but I am sure Bob will get blamed for losing Soumare in this thread when Sidefootsitter gets here. And then when Zoidberg gets here, not only will Bob get the blame for Soumare, but all of us here will also get a share of the blame for being mindless sheep blindly following the USSF in allowing all this to happen
His choice to play for Mali and not wait 2 years tells me that he either feels or has been told...that he would be far down the pecking order and not have a decent chance of cracking the 2 top tiers of defenders on the National Team.
Or... he could have to wait two years and not be assured of anything due to players that are already ahead of him or could surpass him. he's obviously been told he can walk into the Mali squad.
Don't worry, Prime Time will come in and defend BB, which will cause DaPrince84 to argue with him over some petty detail. Then, minya or some other troll will enter and misguide his anger for Bob Bradley toward his son (Mike). McNaulty21 will then enter with a witty joke, which will lead to me replying to mcnaulty's post with guffaws and smiley symbols, which will cause bltleo to enter and ask why I'm using all her smiley symbols. Then, Kevin8833 will reply telling us not to worry about losing Soumare, because we can just play "Szetella" at right back. Statman Crothers will then chime in with a 6,000 word dissertation of pointless mumbo-jumbo, and giffenbone will hopefully cap off the thread with a drunk-post. Finally, dark knight will come in and go to town deleting posts, and we'll be left with a calm discussion of Bakary Soumare again.
great, good for him, we didnt want him anyways, if he didnt want to play for america he can go play somewhere else. Wait, this isnt a rossi or a subotic thread??? My bad Joking asside, its a shame its come to that, you cant really fault him. Would have been good re-enforcement as he is a quality player and would have easily had a say as a 2014 candidate. Now it looks like we got Orozco, Spector, Onyewu, Parkhurst, Marshall.....and maybe Subotic. Gooch will be the ripe old age of 32 next go around, i dont think he's out of the picture by then. And Shea, he'll be there, we dont even know what we are going to mold him into yet; defender, midfielder, forward??? i mean sure he could be but we could also use that frame up top. Not to mention he has the speed to play outside, and is a left footed player. If we did play him at defense, itd be well advised at left back. We'd finally have a left back we could covet and feel proud of in Brek Shea lol.
Yup, they finished on top of their group and have progressed to the next round which might be the final round, too, I believe. As to that next round, they have a somewhat favorable group with Ghana (the biggest obstacle), Benin, and Sudan. Five African countries qualify for the WC and Mali have a good chance. BTW, I don't know if that five includes South Africa. It's kinda odd that South Africa is competing in qualification but it is only because the WC qualifiers serves as qualification for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Talk about pressure!!!