I'm not sure why I thought his father was English. He did play briefly in the English youth system. On the second point, you'd only be able to play for a country you qualified for, so Giggs would only be allowed to play for Wales, England and Sierra Leone. And it would only be for tournaments your primary country had not qualified for. It would avoid the situation where some great players never get to play in the World Cup based on a decision they made as a teenager.
Do you one better play a 4 3 3 with Tyler in the middle and Mckennie on the left and Yunus Musah as the RCM worst case scenario sub him off later and bring experience to finish the match... But cap him and let him see what he can do because he's had a hot streak and now is the time to strike while the iron is hot.... It's a friendly there's nothing to lose... Perfect chance to test him out and cap him
So, I've been looking in to Yunus' situation with England a little and I think it looks pretty good for us. They won't call him up anytime soon. First, they already have a seventeen year old midfielder being fast tracked to the first team in Bellingham. Second, if he were to be the second he would have been called up to the current U21 UEFA to youth tie him a long time ago. I think we have a really good chance.
I have what I assume is a dumb question on this. So Musah has played for us. I get that it isn't binding. I do understand that piece. Here is my question. I have heard it as not being cap tied and heard it as a one time switch. Which is it? Is he allowed to play for all 4 nations he is eligible for to sort out which is the best situation for him or is it really a one time switch which would apply he could only do it once and only amongst 2 of the 4 nations? I assume that it is the former. That as long as he doesn't play a "counter" for any of the nations senior teams he remains a free agent and can explore his options with all 4 countries, but would be curious on the language? Fifa is just pedantic enough to write a rule that specifically says "one time switch" and enforce it as so.
he is not cap tied so he has a 1 time switch available to him, right now as far as FIFA are concerned he is American and would need to switch to play for another country. Youth football doesn't count as an initial declaration until you get to U21 level
This is incorrect, these friendlies are not provisionally cap tying only official youth tournaments are he is still able to play for England without the need to fiel a one time switch
It’s was a full cap he is provisionally cap tied, Wilfred Zaha had an England cap and had to apply to play for Ivory Coast
Zaha played competitively for England youth teams so needed a one time switch to play for The Ivory Coast. It’s not the same for Musah.
I know, I said as far as FIFA are concerned he is now American and would need to use his one time switch to play for someone else ...
Incorrect. He can switch teams without a switch, in fact he could even play in some friendlies for England and come back to The USMNT if he chooses. Had Yunus ever played an official youth match for England, he would have been forced to file a one time switch to take part in these friendlies. However, every youth match he played in for England was a friendly, so no switch was required. He does not need a switch to play for anybody right now, he is an unrestricted free agent
Since it's consensus that Musah is still free to play for England or us, how about the much more interesting question of which he chooses. Was there any indication from the games--tweets, post game comments, unsubstantiated rumors--about his experience or views on the situation? Kind of moot for a while since there aren't any cap tying games for a while.
The truth is that in these situations the players usually just wait a while, get a sense of what level they're going to end up at, and then make a decision accordingly. I would not be surprised if come the next set of US games when he could be capped officially he gets a mysterious injury, or else just flat out announces that he's taking a break from international football to consider his options. To be honest I'm kinda surprised that the US fans are all so unanimous in their support of tying down a kid who is about as American as I am. Along similar lines, I'm not sure how thrilled I'd be about Karamoko Dembele choosing England over Scotland.
That's the logical thing to do. But I don't think that happens where a player is wanted by multiple teams. They tend to make a decision at a fairly young age, see Reyna, Pulisic, Soto and Weah.
Grealish? Rice? Zaha? Was there ever any real ambiguity with those players though? I thought they were settled on the USA from the get-go.
Sure, but Musah has lived more than half his life in Italy, so it's not quite the same as those who were born or spent their entire lives in England and feel "English". I know he spent 3+ years in the English youth system, but he's in a bit of a different place than those others you named. We'll see what he decides to do, and you may be correct that he has potentially better options playing for the USA since England is so loaded right now. I'm sure there would be a bit of a row if he chooses the USA, but I rather doubt that it would be particularly deeply felt. As for why Americans fixate on these players, I believe that it comes down to the fact that we do not have the depth or history of outstanding footballers that England has. England, or France, Spain, Italy, etc. can lose a couple of high-level talents and not miss a beat, but the USA only has a few of those players, and almost all of them have only just gotten to the age where they can impact men's football.
I'd agree but England have had 2 semi-final appearances in the last 25 major competitions. They can't afford to miss anyone either.
FIFA bylaw 23.1(a): Should a dual national be a part of identical starting midfields in consecutive non-competitive fixtures, said dual national shall be immediately cap-tied to the nation of his/her physical birth.— Dave L. (@DLNewRoc) November 16, 2020 is this true?
Sometimes players have to strike while the iron is hot. They could tear an ACL 6 months from now. Musah might see a much clearer path to playing senior national team events with the national team right away with the USMNT than with England. He might even see the 2022 World Cup as a real possibility with the USMNT. Musah is kinda like this other recent USMNT possibility Cajuste. They're children of the world, eligible for a whole bunch of nations. Is Musah American? Is Musah English? Is Musah Italian? Is Musah Ghanaian? The answer is yes. If it was my child in this situation I'd tell him to go to a camp with each nation and see where he thinks he fits the best. See where he feels like he belongs. Often the heart feels something different than the head does. Playing for the USMNT is a much different beast than playing for England. We know this. I get the sense sometimes that players for the English national team aren't actually having much fun. THere's so much scrutiny. There's so much pressure. Its quite intense. When you see this young version of the USMNT in 2020, it looks like they're having a ton of fun. And they're all dual nationals. They're all Yunus Musah. Or mostly anyway. Chris Richards of Bayern isn't.