FIFA removes age limit for switching national teams

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by ThreeApples, Jun 3, 2009.

  1. USvsIRELAND

    USvsIRELAND Member+

    Jul 19, 2004
    ATL
    I'm surprised noone has mentioned this:

    Lee Nguyen can now play for Vietnam am I right?

    Does Copa America cap-tie you now?

    I'm so confused about what the rules are now.
     
  2. chad

    chad Member+

    Jun 24, 1999
    Manhattan Beach
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Or that Mexico doesn't throw him on in min 90+.
     
  3. USvsIRELAND

    USvsIRELAND Member+

    Jul 19, 2004
    ATL
    Trinidad and Jamaica are probably able to have a whole bunch of English guys now.

    This is great news for them.
     
  4. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    While the Copa were considered friendlies for us since we were a guest team, I still think that was for the purpose of releasing players from clubs.

    It was still an official competition so I think Nguyen is SOL.
     
  5. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That would be such a dick move on their part. Knowing them, I guess they will probably end up doing just that.

    I gotta think Castillo would switch if he could. He would be the starting left back for us for years to come.

    Too bad we are just finding out about this now. Why couldn't this have been just a few weeks ago??
     
  6. chad

    chad Member+

    Jun 24, 1999
    Manhattan Beach
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You mean, ARDIDO!
     
  7. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    I suspect his chances of playing in the next couple of qualifiers just increased dramatically.

    If he doesn't play in these next couple of games, I happily volunteer to lead a group of US fans down to either Mexico City or Las Cruces, NM to wine and dine Edgar and convince him to play for the US!

    I'm serious. If he isn't cap-tied by the end of the next couple of qualifiers I'm ready to go complete full-court press to get this guy.

    As for the rule change, I think it's progress. However, I suspect it'll be changed again in the next few years and we'll see an end to youth national team games cap-tying players at all.

    It's just a matter of time before someone stands up and says that it's unfair to have official YNT games cap-tie some players (those without multiple national team options) and not others. Why should the cap-tying rules only apply to persons whose family came to the country in question several generations ago but not apply to those who came to the country of their current national team just a generation or two ago or less?
     
  8. ty webb

    ty webb Member

    Aug 28, 2005
    NYC
    Is Cooper eligible for England now?
     
  9. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No.. he played in a senior World Cup Qualifier last year against Guatemala. He's ours

    I had to think for a second about Parkhurst before I remembered he played in the 2007 Gold Cup.
     
  10. SCBozeman

    SCBozeman Member

    Jun 3, 2001
    St. Louis
    As opposed to the dick move of calling up a dude who's played for Mexico youth teams and Olympics matches, played in several Mexico friendlies and been on several WCQ rosters (though never played)? If that happened to us, we'd be freaking livid.
     
  11. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's not a dick move for us to call him in. Castillo doesn't have to accept our invitation. He can always just say "no thanks"

    It would be a dick move on Mexico to play him in the 90+ minute just to prevent him from even having the choice which has now just been made possible to him. I am sure it would be something that he would like to think about because he clearly has more possibilities with the USA given our need at LB vs theirs.

    I remember a quote from sometime last year that said something along the lines that he would have liked to have had the option to play for the USA. Maybe someone here can find it?
     
  12. autobus39

    autobus39 Member+

    Jun 28, 2006
    Scranton, PA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  13. ej014

    ej014 Member

    Jul 17, 2001
    Vacaville, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/sports/soccer/23soccer.html

    quote in there. Too late to call him in for tonight. If he leaves now I'm sure he can be ready for the 2nd half.
     
  14. Prime Time

    Prime Time Member

    May 1, 2004
    South Florida
    Something tells me Castillo is going to play this weekend for Mexico.
     
  15. Panfilo

    Panfilo Member+

    May 9, 2003
    INLAND EMPIRE
    Club:
    Club América
    Nat'l Team:
    Mexico
    He is not even on our list

    dude is probably on vacation

    If you guys want a leftback who can't defend and gets caught upfield a lot he is your guy. :p
     
  16. Justin Z

    Justin Z Member

    Jul 12, 2005
    Edinburgh, Scotland
    Club:
    Heart of Midlothian FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Unfortunately at this point that doesn't sound half-bad, heh. ;)
     
  17. Elninho

    Elninho Member+

    Sacramento Republic FC
    United States
    Oct 30, 2000
    Sacramento, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd even go so far as to assume that, if he doesn't play in the next two qualifiers, it means he refused to play for Mexico and is definitely a US player.
     
  18. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    Here are some players who have played for the US YNTs in either qualifying or a FIFA championship and haven’t been cap-tied to the US at the senior team level. In parenthesis is the highest level they played for the US in a game what was previously considered cap-tying.

    I didn’t do the current U17s just because there are so many who are eligible for other counties and I can’t remember who, or whose parents, was born where.

    ^Gale Agbossoumonde (20s) – born in Togo
    Andre Akpan (20s) – Nigerian father
    Nelson Akwari (20s) – Nigerian parents
    Arturo Alvarez (20s) – Salvadoran parents
    Bryan Arguez (20s) – Jamaican mother; Cuban father
    *Edson Buddle(20s) – Jamaican father
    Dominic Cervi (23s) – Italian grandparents
    ^Dilly Duka (20s) – Albanian parent(s)
    ^Kyle Davies (20s) – Welsh father; English mother
    ^Bryan Dominguez (17s) – Colombian parents
    *Alecko Eskandarian (23s) – Iranian parents of Armenian descent
    Gabe Farfan (17s) – Mexican father
    Michael Farfan (17s) – Mexican father
    Gabe Ferrari (20s) – Italian father; Brazilian mother
    *Robbie Findley (23s) – Trinidadian parents
    ^Jorge Flores (20s) – Mexican parents
    ^Omar Gonzalez (17s) – Mexican parents
    ^Jeremy Hall (17s) – Panamanian father; Puerto Rican mother
    *Kamani Hill (23s) – Trinidadian father
    ^Fuad Ibrahim (17s) – born in Ethiopia
    Stuart Holden (23s) – born in Scotland
    Amaechi Igwe (20s) – Nigerian parents
    Emilio John (20s) – Nigerian father
    ^Brendan King (17s) – English father
    Quavas Kirk (20s) – Trinidadian parents
    ^Peri Marosevic (20s) – born in Bosnia
    ^Alex Nimo (17s) - born in Liberia
    *Nick Rimando (20s) – Mexican mother; Filipino father (or vice versa)
    Sammy Ochoa (20s) – born in Mexico
    ^Amobi Okugo (20s) – Nigerian parents
    ^Kofi Sarkodie (17s) – Ghanaian parents
    Ofori Sarkodie (20s) – Ghanaian parents
    Johann Smith (20s) – Jamaican parents
    Jonathan Villanueva (20s) – Mexican father
    Anthony Wallace (20s) – Jamaican parents
    Quentin Westberg (20s) – born in France
    Zak Whitbread (23s) – English parents
    ^Sheanon Williams (20s) – Trinidadian parents
    *Sal Zizzo (20s) – Italian parents

    *These players were capped by the senior team in friendlies, but not “FIFA-sanctioned” games like qualifiers, etc.. and I’m not sure how friendlies are being counted and if they are considered cap-tying.

    ^Players were young enough to have still switched under the old rule, though the clock was, obviously, ticking.

    Since it appears to be a moot point with them, I left out players who have stopped playing like Alex Yi (South Korea) and Knox Cameron (Jamaican) that were cap-tied to the US under the old rules but could have switched under the new one.

    Obviously, a lot of these players aren’t gonna suddenly get capped by the likes of Italy or England. But some of the kids with ties to Trinidad or Jamaica or places in Africa might find themselves with opportunities to play for a different national team.

    EDITED to add that I may have forgotten and/or not known about the eligibility of other US YNT players. So this list could be longer.
     
    2 people repped this.
  19. Scotty

    Scotty Member+

    Dec 15, 1999
    Toscana
    Yeah, I'm still not convinced that Castillo would cure our problems at that position.

    Lightning quick, no physique and questionable defensive skills.

    I mean, we already have Bornstein to fit that description, don't we?
     
  20. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am convinced that Castillo is an upgrade. He's certainly not a cure-all and he has some problems, but I think if he plays for the USA, he would be a lock for SA 2010 and 90% chance he starts there.

    Hopefully he gets word of this rule change and comes down with an "injury" in Mexico's camp.
     
  21. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's a great list and thank you for doing that

    Even more challenging would be a list of players the USA could potentially pick up under these new rules.

    Obviously Castillo is the hot topic now. We know Rossi can still switch but it's clear he won't even consider it. But anyone else?
     
  22. WKU_Philthy

    WKU_Philthy New Member

    May 3, 2006
    Marc Heider?

    Fabian Johnson?

    Myhill?

    Jesus Padilla?

    Who was the German midfielder who played against us in the 2005 U-20 WC?


    Just a few off the top of my head.
     
  23. BigKris

    BigKris Member

    Jan 17, 2005
    Falls Church, VA
    Piotr Nowak is, as we speak, holed up in a Mexico City hotel under a false name and has been in secret contact with Castillo over the last couple of days. The whole Philadelphia Union thing was a ruse to cover for Nowak's absence from Costa Rica. Once the new rule change is official he'll smuggle Castillo out of the team hotel in a laundry hamper and fly him to Chicago.
     
  24. ThreeApples

    ThreeApples Member+

    Jul 28, 1999
    Smurf Village
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Rossi played in a WCQ vs. Bulgaria.
     
  25. Cujo1126

    Cujo1126 New Member

    Mar 23, 2008
    Boston
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I don't think he's even on Mexico's roster for the next two qualifiers.
     

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