In fact, England has a lot of youth talent too. I mean, Tammy Abraham, Calvert-Lewin, Foden, Sancho, Bellingham, Mount, Rice, Saka etc. are all 23 or younger. They have all sorts of intriguing youngsters with their U21s like their own potential dual-national capture Musiala of Bayern. So this notion that Musah may prefer the USMNT because its a younger group may not hold any water. England has an exciting young group too. Berhalter must think that he has a good chance of capturing him for the USMNT. He started in him in the two games with Euro players we've had over the last calendar year. If he thought it was "long shot," then he may not have done that. He may have started Ledezma of PSV or somebody of that ilk instead. We don't have THAT MANY games with Euro players before the start of WCQing in June. He wouldn't have wasted the opportunity. We have the March window, the Nations League semi and maybe final......................and that's it.
England has slowed played him to youth teams. Even in Southgate's recent comments, it is clear that they don't necessarily see a senior team slot right now given their talent. We're offering him games now, starting now, and a very strong chance to be starting in Qatar.
Sure. And that actually makes sense seeing as he's only 17. He hadn't played a professional first team game until September. Maybe if England had meaningless friendlies in this window instead of League of Nations games, they'd have considered calling him up too. I don't know. What I do know is that the USMNT had the luxury of meaningless friendlies that they could use in order to pursue/recruit dual-nationals. it wasn't just Musah. Ledezma is being courted by mexico. Soto is being courted by Chile. Otasowie, Odunze, the list goes on. Gioacchini is being courted by Jamaica. de la Fuente is eligible for Spain. Llanez is eligible for Mexico. Cardoso is eligible for Brazil. Reyna is still eligible for a bunch of nations. We get the point.
I think Soto was pretty clear that he's committed to the USA when he turned down his callup for Chile's WCQs. Gioacchini has expressed his admiration for Donovan, Dempsey and Altidore, yes Altidore, and said its his dream to represent the USA. He also acknowledged Berhalter for calling him out of the blue to talk about the MNT.
Right. But these were all players being pursued by other national teams. We could have called in Aron Johannsson, for instance, who's excelling right now for Hammarby. Instead we called up players with lesser resumes. If we don't call these dual-nationals up, then maybe their eyes will have started to turn. You can only wait so long for an opportunity......................... None of them are cap-tied anyway. They can all, including Musah, play for other national teams. Some of them are provisionally cap-tied after playing with us in the last U20 cycle (Ledezma, Llanez, Soto, etc.).
Eire manager Stephen Kenny is about to learn the downside of playing dual nationals. He played an anti-English propaganda video before Ireland's game in England last week to motivate his players. Unfortunately he didn't seem to know his audience. A third of his squad are English, the rest live in England, several with English partners. The players took offense and have reported him to the Football Association of Ireland and he faces being fired tomorrow.
Reyna quote: “I’ve played against them a few times with the youth national team and he was always a good player,” Reyna said. “I mean, there’s a reason he’s playing for Valencia every week. He’s a big player and one of the best 02’s in the world, I’d say. “This is a really personal decision for him. So for me, and the rest of the guys, we can’t say much. Of course, we’d love to have him here and I see him being a big part of our team going forward. But, like I said, it’s wherever he feels closest to the heart, and hopefully, it’s here. We’ve had a good time with him and he’s a great guy. We got to know him well, so we’ll just have to see what happens next .
If Musah chooses us I don’t think it’s because we have a better young core than England. I think it’s because: 1. Our young core is large enough to envision being competitive at the World Cup level during his career. 2. But it is small enough that he’s unlikely to get crowded out. 3. There aren’t established vets that would block him from immediate playing time. Going with England means he risks being like Rossi, who didn’t make Italy’s 2010 squad. But unlike Rossi, the USMNT of 2022-2030 is potentially much more promising than the 2010-2018 versions.
FCD with a killer tweet today. Reminding us that Balogun has represented the US. Bryan getting his first U-23 call-up serves as a reminder that this perfect photo exists. pic.twitter.com/P3hRa1r9tU— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) January 5, 2021
Tyler Adams about to work his magic! EXCLUSIVE!✅- Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun has agreed a pre-contract with RB Leipzig.✍️- Huge blow to Gunners as he prepares to leave for Germany on summer free.🇩🇪https://t.co/9Lv6TsqmBy#AFC pic.twitter.com/br7zBshEVK— Football Insider (@footyinsider247) January 13, 2021
he was born in New York and is currently eligible for USA, England (whom he represents at youth level) and Nigeria
He's not permanently cap-tied to England, and the US is recruiting him hard. Brian McBride, the USMNT technical director, is on the case. Until he is permanently cap-tied, we'll keep talking about him on these boards. United States hot on the trail of Arsenal starlet Folarin Balogun https://www.teamtalk.com/news/united-states-hot-on-trail-arsenal-starlet-folarin-balogun
Of course not. We haven't suggested that we have him yet. He's in play, or he wouldn't have accepted the call up to the recent USMNT camp. Owen Otasowie of Wolves also isn't cap-tied yet. He's also England eligible, and his reputation is increasing.
I mean coming from a poster who thinks other nations' cap tying players is despicable, I see no shock in your reply.
Did Balogun and Musah play on the same English national teams? If Musah is leaning towards the USA, could he influence Balogun? You look at a front five of Reyna, Pulisic, Musah, McKennie and Adams, that’s an impressive group. Just need that killer center forward and Balogun could be the guy.