Dual nationals who could suit up for the US.

While those two would have been difference-makers for the USMNT, they were never ours to begin with. Rossi always wanted to play for Italy, and Subotic used the US to get Germany, then Serbia to notice him. I know this because I asked them both directly during the early days of social media,

 

He was 31 when he became a US citizen.

 

It stung at the time, but I was like "It's not as if I'm being sent off to war, There are worse things in this world."

 

On the second point, I definitely think it was basically retribution, Klinsy style, for taking the March camp off. I think when he begged off, Mitrovic turned to other guys period. Before that Luna had basically been killing it at all the youth levels going back years, including in U20 qualifying, that got us our olympic tournament, than in the U20 WC itself, then in MLS, none of it mattered. I think the competition for the final spots was tight, it was a small roster, but it doesn't really make sense to: (and here I'm going to reiterate one of my strongest philosophical arguments rather than stat based ones):
*Take a spot from Luna, when he is an up and coming young player who has killed it with the youth teams and did qualify us for the U20 WC and U23 Olympic Tournament, for a guy who was handed the keys to qualify us for the '21 U23 Olympic Tournament and was a total complete and utter failure in said gig (did zilch in the 3 games that weren't against a Caribbean punching bag). So after failing in the Olympics, we handed him the keys again two years later for what ended up being our most attacking-inept side we'd produced at the Gold Cup in eons.

So the idea after all that, was, hey, lets hand him the keys to our first Olympic team to qualify in nearly 15 years?!?!?! It was utterly asinine, and shockingly, he repeated his failures from '23, and '21, only producing anything of note against punching bags New Zealand and Guinea (big shock) and was utterly anonymous beyond the punching bag games. I wonder if we needed a guy like Luna, a swiss army knife of creativity, rather than a dead ball specialist, when we were playing teams like France, and Morocco? Maybe?

Just beyond frustrating. I will completely concede Clint's point that the roster was tight, and there were going to automatically be cuts that hurt, a great deal, but when you have idiotic inclusions that are obviously stupid and self-defeating, it makes my counterargument so much easier. That Djordje would fall on his face in the biggest games was already preordained, he'd done it the two previous times he'd had the keys, he was gifted a ticket that Luna actually earned through on the field performances in '22 and '23 with our youth teams, and in '24 with his club.

That alone should win the argument. Now add that Luna just added a great deal more variation and creativity to the attack, that he presented a developmental piece we could play, and showcase as a young player, now add that he is a dual nat, and we shouldn't be giving him excuses to consider El Tri, and the reasons for giving him a ticket vastly outweighed the miniscule justifications for Mihailovic (admittedly Djordje wasn't first choice for an overage guy, he was like 5th, but he never should have been going, period, regardless).

 

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Nene Brown can also be a option in left midfield and left winger. He been playing higher up for Frankfurt.

 

Anrie Chase goal

Anrie Chase 19' header goal off a set piece

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Pulisic set piece to Chase

 

Thomas Delaney has to be top ten.

 

Brede Hangeland

 

Let's do a Top 10 of greatest missed Dual-Nats - for any reason and in no specific order... just a top 10. I'm curious to see what names we come up with. Can anyone give a seconded on Araujo?

I'll start w/ the two easy pickens:

1 Rossi
2 Subotic
3 Jonothan David
4 Brede Hangeland
5 Thomas Delaney
6
7
8
9
10

Please add to the list!

 

If true, that's a mistake.

There are people who have strong ties to two countries and would take playing for either country seriously. Not everyone is a mercenary.

On the other hand, if its true that Brown only played Germany U-21 to get US attention, then when (if it does) the call comes from the USMNT, Brown should have no problem switching (if senior Germany has not already called.).

 

I don’t think he’s number 6, but Jens Cajuste may crack the top ten by the time he’s done playing.

 

WIth a little help from Googling around on some older guys.


Gk: Boaz Myhill or Esper Baardsen (Suzuki gaining)
D: Ryerson, Subotic, Hangeland, Gotoku Sakai
MF: Delaney, Alexander-Arnold, Jimmy Hartwig
W/ST David, Rossi, Felix Magath

 

weren't both the Funes Mori brothers eligible to to their father's stint in the MLS?
Years ago Andy Najar would make the cut, but now is probably Top 25 losses.

 

I watched a game, and the announcer said that Joachim Löw had promised Musiala he would take him to the Euros 2021.
Are there any players you would promise to take to the 2026 or 2030 WC? Unlike Germany, USMNT needs to do it while players are still playing youth games. If you wait until a player turns pro, it's late. I could name a lot of players that we snub for no reason.
USMNT doesn't have a good pull

 

Nope. They were not legally in the US and never got Green Cards. I don't think dad played in MLS.

Najar never became a US citizen (though he may be one now).

 

Alexander-Arnold isn't a US citizen. His mother is a US citizen, but didn't live in the US long enough to pass along citizenship. He could have become a citizen if his mother had moved to the US before he turned 18.

 

"In 2001, he moved to Arlington, Texas, US, and attended Workman Junior High and Arlington High School where he was coached by Jeff Waldrop playing football with his twin brother, Ramiro.[7] Funes Mori scored 40 goals in the 2008 season leading his team to District Champions and Area Finalist with a record of 24–2–1. Rogelio and Ramiro, who are identical twins, also played several seasons for the Associated Soccer Group (ASG) 91' team."

So all this time, the family was living illegally in the US?

 

Sounds like it. They probably came on a tourist visa and then overstayed. If you have a good network and someone willing to employ you, you can probably stay for a long time as long as you don't get in trouble.

They probably would have been eligible for DACA based on the dates, but that wouldn't have happened until 2007 and that doesn't come with a natural path to citizenship or permanent residency.

Based on what I've read, Diego Fagundez was in the same situation and had to get a P-1 visa to sign with the Revs. Najar was also here undocumented, but managed to get a Green Card through a relative before committing to Honduras.

 

There really aren't a lot of players we've missed out on who would have made much of a mark on the Nats. I guess Roger Espinoza should be on the list?


One of the fun ones is Vedad Ibišević, who gets mentioned as one we missed, but was never actually eligible - but did say he would have been interested if the Nats had contacted him when he was playing here in his teens. Not sure if he was interested enough to completely re-map his entire career to gain eligilibity, but I suspect maybe not.

 

Kei Kamara might be another dual nat miss.

Yura Movsisyan is in the Ibisevic vein -- live in the US from around 13 to 22 before having to follow the money to Europe.

 

Would they start? Back in the day?

 

I wouldn't say start over Jozy back then per se, but minutes for sure. The clamor for trying to lock down Movsisyan in particular was quite high as I recall.