Cremanschi was amongst the U20s that were just training with the USMNT in the pre-WC fitness camp. He's very much been in the fold. We're not "undervaluing him." That U19 event was the Nations Cup in Slovenia. We took a good roster to that event. He scored a brace in our win over Croatia as we won the title. [Euro-based competitions at this level are U19 of course.] But he's on the young side, and when it came time for the U20 CONCACAF Championships, we relied on the guys with more professional experience in attacking positions. Paxten Aaronson, Quinn Sulivan, Caden Clark, Diego Luna, and all of those guys. Rokas Pukstas, who's playing first team soccer for Hajduk Split. Its not easy to break into the US U20s these days........................ We should see this Argentina callup for what its worth. He's exploring his options just like Pepi, Slonina, and countless others have before him. If he was your son, that's what you'd have him do too. Are you turning down an opportunity to train with Javier Mascherano for a week? He's the Argentina U20 coach now. It isn't binding at all.
im not arguing any side, im just saying if we are calling him into u19 events and argentina is calling him to an u20 camp- which, as you note, he hasnt gotten into for us yet- its saying something. this isnt el salvador we are talking about. i think its a little cavalier to say, "its cool, weve got loads of u20s, what do argentina know about developing young players we dont?".
Clint just told us what it means. He’s keeping his options open. Is that what you think is happening? In all of these situations, the players have agency. They aren’t chess pieces to control.
Interestingly Argentina was one of 4 teams in the World Cup with no foreign born players. The others were Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea. 16.5 percent of all the players in the World Cup were foreign born (roughly 1 in 6). And the team with the most foreign born players is Morocco with 14. The US had 5. More here https://www.vox.com/c/world/2022/12/8/23471181/how-migration-has-shaped-the-world-cup
This is a very interesting article. The USA has 4 foreign born players that qualify via ancestral connections. One additional foreign born player qualifies due to natural migration. Canada has 7 foreign born players. Only one qualifies via ancestral connections, the other 6 are via natural migration. The ancestral connection category of foreign born players on African sides is massive.
I don't think Mexico is going to fall off a cliff, but I don't think they will be able to keep up with us, either. It's been evident for years already that we are producing better players. I didn't expect that to start showing itself at senior team level until after the 2022 cycle, but it came slightly ahead of schedule.
This is what this board has come to. 1) Criticizing the call up schedule of a player that NOBODY HAS SEEN play first team soccer. 2) Criticizing the USSF for not calling him up to the U20s, when he was literally just with the U20s last month. EGADS!!!!@@!!!
BK Häcken left-back Kristoffer Lund on his dual citizenship:"I would be proud to represent both nations. I was incredibly proud to be with Denmark U20, but I also don't want to rule anything out in relation to the American national team."#ForDanmark #USMNT pic.twitter.com/STle7hwDcS— Danish Scout (@DanishScout_) December 11, 2022
Kristoffer Lund, January camp invite? I watched some Kristoffer Lund this afternoon. Here is my lean scouting report on him: + Good defensive instincts both 1v1 and off the ball+ Plays strong/tough+ Saw an assortment of solid crosses (early, cut backs, on the ground, whipped, finessed, etc)...— Marcus Chairez (@chai_asc) December 11, 2022 +/- Average explosiveness/agility+/- Decent ball control- Not super creative/dynamic/inventiveI'd rate him below Tolkin and Isais and above Bello. Similar grade as Sam Vines.— Marcus Chairez (@chai_asc) December 11, 2022
Not only is all of CONCACAF scouting the US hard for players, South America is too. [In CONCACAF, FCD alone has had youth players called up to Mexico, Panama, Honduras, and El Salvador this week.] There could be as many as 7 nations using Americans at the U20 South American Championships. Five nations may use former USYNT players in CONMEBOL U20 qualifying.Argentina: CremaschiBolivia: E. MoralesChile: V. ReyesColombia: F. Alvarez, Castilla, TantonPeru: J. Cortez, GuadalupeAdditionally, Ecuador and Uruguay may use US-eligibles (not with USYNTs before).— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) December 15, 2022
I don't think we need more evidence on this one. If we did, I think we have it. Alejandro Zendejas: “Hopefully it’ll be ours one day” 🇺🇸#usmnt #united2026 pic.twitter.com/buoPcCgdCz— Alex Calabrese (@amcalabrese12) December 19, 2022
What’s the status of his eligibility? I’ve seen multiple reports. Can we confirm that he is, in fact, eligible to play for us?
I think that one is still broiling behind the scenes. I haven't seen a conclusion. What it seems like is that Zendejas represented Mexico in friendlies without ever filing a one-time switch. He needed to do that as he'd played for the USMNT in events that provisionally cap-tied him to us. In theory that violated FIFA regulations. So.........................if he was never actually eligible to play for Mexico, wouldn't that mean he's still eligible to play for us? One would think, but I haven't seen that conclusion confirmed anywhere. I'm also skeptical about whether he's good enough for the USMNT, but that's a whole different topic. Certainly worth a look in a friendly if his eligibility is confirmed. Mostly because we yearn and seek to have a USMNT of only FC Dallas academy products. And he'd fill a nice hole on the right wing in an FCD USMNT XI.
He has confirmed that he has talked to Berhalter about coming into camp after the WC. Since El Tri has said he didn't file a one-time switch, he continues to be eligible for the US.
I think I've seen quotes from Berhalter or the fed that he's being brought into the fold in the new year. I think we have him because El Tri was pissed when he didn't sign the paperwork which they thought was a formality. Tata definitely seemed annoyed about it. Seems clear to me he's going to be ours. I'm just baffled as to why and how this happened after basically a seeming switch that covered the past five or six years. Weird. Seems like Araujo and Ochoa in reverse, essentially once he made good, w/the production the past two years, he wanted to play for us again, or there was something that changed his mind drastically about them. Not sure which. I actually do think he's quite useful. The trend lines since he turned 22 are really really good. '20-'21: 5 goals in 2500 minutes '21-'22: 11 goals and 2 assists in 2400 minutes '22-'23: 6 goals and 2 assists in 1450 minutes Basically he's gone from a vague squad player to one of, and maybe the best wingers/wing forwards in Mexico over the last 18 months or so, and its pretty consistent up ticks. The problem for him re the USMNT, is he plays our deepest position, so where would he fit? For me, probably Wing Forward #4 or #5, and I love that he was teammates with Pulisic, Wright, Adams and friends 7 years ago so it won't be a strangers kind of thing. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if part of this is getting back w/a group he enjoyed playing with (El Tri doesnt seem very fun these days or cohesive, not an implosion like some teams go, but definitely messy).
A part of me sort of just wants to see a roster with Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Wright, LDLT, Trusty, Vazquez, and Zendejas just so we can get an update of the photo of all of them together from the youth days. I don't know this, but it seems logical that part of his reason of wanting to play with the USMNT is specifically because he wants to play with all his youth teammates.
It's a good question but their is other context as well. The U20 calendar for Argentina is different. C'CAF has their U20 regional tournament a full year earlier than C'BOL. The age from 16 to 18 is one of tremendous growth for players. The timing might not have been right for USMNT. Edit: Also, we just have way more dual nationals that Argentina. I believe most of our rosters are about 50% dual nationals or something like that. We can't just bump someone off because they are also likely to be dual and if we always give priority to duals then we would only have duals which is not a good message either.
I'd love to know if they are still tight. If Haji and them kept in touch despite the lost Haji years from '18-'20, I'd like to think that they kept in touch with Zendejas too. He had one of the goals in that big win over England if memory serves. I tend to think so too, but its partly just wishful thinking. I love the idea of this being a gang of friends whove known each other since they were early teens, both the 23-24 year old cohort, and the 18-20 year old groupings. It's just super cool to have a group that's like that as it seems unique to our team in certain ways (the U17 group from '99 had an impact on multiple national team careers across the following 4 world cups) the big New Jersey/Northeast Contingent, mixed with the California contingent seemed to form a big chunk of the '90-'94-'98 era guys too (all seemed to be coming out of college in the late eighties/early nineties and all seemed familiar with one another from college days before donning the shirt).
I don't know. Stats are pretty similar. Zendejas has better stats than Arriola did in Mexcio since he's emerged, but Arriola left when he was like 20-21 for MLS, while Zendejas only broke out at age 22. The stats are pretty close, Arriola's been productive longer (he is older), but Zendejas best seasons are better for the most part and w/a better club in a better league but....I don't know, which is why I said Zendejas would be #4-#5 on the depth chart. That's basically also where I have Arriola. I think Zendejas is probably a bit more technically gifted, but Arriola has his only special tool kit he brings, minus the finishing angle. I think both are basically in that hat of guys that come into play after the big 4 (Pulisic, Weah, Reyna, and Aaronson), but the pecking order remains to be seen, plus Reyna and Aaronson could be moved eventually to CM (I still don't think Aaronson can handle that, but Reyna can).
Balogun goal 1608526543399096320 is not a valid tweet id Another Ligue 1 goal for Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun! 💥That's the 21-year-old's ninth in 16 appearances for Reims this season! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/s2TRlwXGHE— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 29, 2022 Edit: hopefully this one works What a finish @balogun!!!! Superb volley! @Arsenal #AFC pic.twitter.com/1QFCBq6odb— The Frenchican (@FRANXICAN) December 29, 2022
Two American players with Argentinian descent, Benjamín Cremaschi and Máximo Carrizo, have been called up to Argentina youth teams this week. The former for the U-20 squad and the latter for the U-17.Both have played with US youth teams in the past. #USMNT pic.twitter.com/RUNvp8LUat— Anthony (@AnthonyKyaw) December 29, 2022
Hopefully this one doesn't get taken down... 1608539917050875904 is not a valid tweet id another one FOLARIN BALOGUN 🏴🇺🇲🇳🇬(2001) GETS HIS BRACE!!! 10 LIGUE 1 GOALS ON THE SEASON!!!pic.twitter.com/quBN1rDjWS— Football Report (@FootballReprt) December 29, 2022