Hey England66, why aren't you coaching here in the Dallas area with one of the big boy clubs? or are you?
I could write a couple of chapters in a book about the miriad abuses of the youth soccer system in this area.....Oh' ...wait a minute....I just did....so no, I'm not coaching a team in this area, I do however still give private lessons and enjoy working with young people whose love and appreciation of the game has not been beaten out of them by "coaches" who get their sense of self worth out of winning games for 9 year olds....
I'm glad to hear your still actively involved in the game and I'm glad your sharing your experience here in North Texas. We're lucky to have you.
What is Brian Ching's ethnic background? I know he's from Hawaii, but there are lots of Chinese- and Japanese-Americans there, as well as native Hawaiians. I assume he's at least part Chinese, given his surname.
I don't want a mercenary on the team I support. I don't want international soccer to be a contest of who can buy the best players. I want players who are honored to wear the jersey. Allowing players to adopt new nationalities and play simply so they can make a paycheck cheapens the sport. Just because a player can make money playing international soccer does not mean I have to support that ambition.
As far as I know, Switzerland does *not* automatically grant citizenship to someone just because he was born there. A good friend of mine was born in Switzerland to Italian and Austrian parents and lived there her entire life and she didn't get citizenship until she was 18 and applied for it.
Well, I'm guessing you're right. Ching is a chinese name, just like Lee or Nguyen imply chinese ethnicity though they are typically Korean or Vietnamese nationals. Many asian countries have high ethnic chinese populations.
Given how incredibly hot she is, you'd think she could have been "naturalized" faster. Surely, someone could have offered to "naturalize" her.
From the St Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/24/89: "With his international family tree, Wegerle wouldn't be out of place on the American squad. At least four other U.S. team members were born in foreign countries - Hugo Perez in El Salvador, Frank Klopas in Greece, Tab Ramos in Uruguay and Windischmann in Germany. Several others are first-generation Americans. Meola's family is from Italy, John Stollmeyer's from Trinidad, John Harkes' and Bruce Murray's from Scotland, Eric Eichmann's from Germany and Marcelo Balboa's from Argentina." So, Stollmeyer was apparently US-born, even though two of his uncles were international cricketers for the West Indies ... http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/52953.html http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/52955.html
THanks for having my back. Didn't know, however, that Windischmann was born in Germany. Apparently he was born in Nuremberg. Perhaps that's good kharma for the game there this summer. http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/Mike_Windischmann.htm
Damn snowbacks, coming over here and taking all the good icedancing jobs. Next you know Congress will pass a bill to give citizenship to some Canadian who will just go and sell a supergun to Iraq... oh, wait, they already did that. Nevermind.
As Jeff Agoos was born before 1992, and his parents are American, I don't think we can make any assumptions that he'd ever have been able to get Swiss citizenship. Maybe, but there's nothing I've read that implies he could have played for Switzerland.
I think you may be confusing two very different issues. When Roberto Carlos gains Spanish citizenship, he does so to enhance his club career. As a Brazilian, he takes up a non-EU spot on any European club he plays for. As a Spaniard, he can play anywhere in Europe - no work permit necessary - and won't count against non-EU roster limits. Now, naturalizing players (or, more accurately, instances where national football associations actively seek out potentially naturalizable foreigners and either assist them in getting citizenship or pull strings with the governmental agencies that grant citizenship) just to play for a national team is another matter. Hell, a few years ago, I looked into the possibility of my wife pursuing German citizenship; her mother was German, born in Berlin, grew up there, married an American and moved to the States 40 years ago where she became a US citizen. At that time, Germany wouldn't allow dual citizenship, so she gave up her German passport. Which, at least a few years ago, meant my wife couldn't apply for German citizenship. We didn't do this out of any great love for Germany (though we like the country quite a lot), but out of personal, hypothetically financial reasons; we'd love to spend a year or two living there, and if my wife's a citizen, I could get some sort of work permit. If I had any possibility of getting citizenship in some EU country, I'd jump at the chance.
Exactly true. Switzerland (like many European countries) confers citizenship based on blood rather than birth. In fact, There are many laboreres that work in Switerzland that were born there, yet don't have Swiss citzenship. it isn't unheard of for the Swiss to send all these "foreigners" born in Switzerland home during ecnomic recessions.
Being born before 1992 has nothing to do with it.. If he has wanted dual citizenship after 1992 then there would have been no problem if he was interested... The law makes no note as to date of birth of the individual..
The only way naturalized players will stop paying a role on the US national team is if immigration to the US stops completely or soccer suddenly loses its popularity outside of the US. And please, there was hardly anything fishy about Regis joining the team. He became a citizen the most uncontroversial way possible, he married an American. That, and not soccer, is what got him his passport. Maybe the timing of his citizenship application was such that he would have time to make the US World Cup team, but what the hell is wrong with that? He did more than enough to show his dedication to and love for US soccer.
\ I always liked Regis, but at the same time could understand why some wouldn't: 1) He's French 2) Never bothered to learn English (and so wasn't a target for much stateside press) 3) Inconsistent -- but the best LB we had for a while I think people always questioned his heart though. When you've really never lived a day in the country you play for I think its a reasonable question. His naturalization wasn't the same as Tom Dooley, Hugo Perez, Preki, or Fernando Clavijo.
take a look at the naturalization test on the internet and take it yourself... regis had to study big time to pass the test, which isn't all that easy... in fact, back when regis was taking the test, many posters took the test, and regis score was better than most of the takers... so in a sense, regis was a better informed american than most native born ones..
I ran into Regis at a mall outside DC before one of the nats games at RFK a few years ago. He isn't going to be confused for Patrick Stewart or Denzel Washington anytime soon, but we had a good conversation and I don't speak any French outside of menu and massage. It was accented and he clearly had to think of some words but I've had worse conversations with folks who have lived in this country a long time. Regis was also very gracious, seemed surprised but proud to be recognized - he was wearing a USSF sweatsuit - and genuinely seemed appreciative of playing for the US. And, as others have noted before, when the US was celebrating goals or wins in Korea, Regis had as big a smile on his face as anyone else. You can question the method he became an American - yes it was expidited, but it was totally legal and above board - but not his commitment to the US National Team.
No, you don't. That's your right. I certainly respect and understand where you're coming from and I'm not trying to get you to support a team you don't want to. But I think it's wrong to deny the players the opportunity to exploit the system when they are making the system so much money and are treated like disposable commodities. As much as it sucks to think about, at the end of the day, this is big business.
Well, born and raised in Martinique, so there might be hose in France who would beg to differ! Why do people say this? First, there's no way anyone throwing around this bit of information could no its true or not. Secondly, he's lived as an adult in a country where knowledge of English as a second language is fairly widespread. He has an American wife. He played 5 years for the US national team. A little common sense would dictate that he speaks English, even if not as a native. After 9/11 the most heartfelt comments I read from any US national team player came from Regis. And he clearly was as passionate about the US team as anyone. The language and "heart" issue were always baseless and just used to give people an opportunity to stand on their soap box about the naturalization issue. In any case (and Davids26 I know you said you liked Regis so probably this isn't directed at you), I've known many spouses of Americans abroad who become American citizens several years before living in the country. It's quite common, actually. I personally know of one case where such an individual has a high-level US government security clearance. Is that OK, but playing for the national team not OK? As long as such people genuinely represent a segment of the non-soccer US population, what's wrong with having one on the national team?
My wife's aunt and uncle both have a U.S. and a Swiss passport. It does not seem to be a problem. The uncle is a native Swiss who naturalized to the U.S., the aunt qualified because her parents were Swiss citizens, even though she was born in the U.S. It's actually very hard to qualify for Swiss citizenship. Being born in Switzerland does not automatically qualify you like it does here. Last we checked, your father had to be Swiss, mothers do not count. If that does not work, I believe you have to stand for an election in your local Kanton, where the locals decide whether or not to let you in. That's pure democracy. I don't know if Agoos's dad was Swiss. If he was just born in Switzerland, that alone would not be enough, at least from my understanding. To get back on topic, I can think of some players in the pool who are the children of immigrants, and one or two who were not born in the U.S. Everybody's from somewhere else at some level, so I don't see a problem.
I think there are two different issues here: 1. Should players be allowed to financially profit from international games?; and 2. Should players be allowed to play for any country that wants them (e.g., should non-cap-tied Brazilians with no prior connection to Qatar be allowed to assume Qatari citizenship and then play for Qatar)? I completely agree with you that players should be allowed to profit financially based on their international play, basically for the reasons you state. But, I don't think someone with little to no ties to a country should be allowed to play international soccer for that country. Allowing players to do so, diminishes the nationalistic/patriotic overtones which adds so much fun and fervor to the international game, and distinguishes it from club soccer. It also allows teams to buy the best players, benefitting the wealthier European and USA soccer associations and crippling the poorer ones, which strikes me as essentially unfair. The issue for me is where to draw the line between preventing soccer mercenaries, while still allowing players with genuine connections to a country in which they were not born to play. Personally, I hope USA soccer never again recruits someone to become an American citizen so that he can play for the USMNT, while always welcoming anyone who becomes an American citizen for non-soccer related reasons.