Looks like it; perhaps an academy deal? He eats, sleeps and breathes football - better known to most Americans as soccer. Born and raised where the gridiron rules, Spiegelberg's European football talent has surpassed all expectations and landed him as the first United States player ever to be invited into Spain's prestigious Atletico Madrid's training camp. ... Spiegelberg was recruited by 2006 NCAA quarter finalist Santa Clara in California in the fall of 2006, but he waived that option to play in Spain. Link: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-11-2007/0004586300&EDATE= Looks like he's a 1988 who played for Solar in Texas. This link from the club would maybe confirm that and the Santa Clara connection: http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cach...p+spiegelberg"+santa&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Don't see anything in the Spanish news yet; trying to get info from the club.
Obvious answer--NO. I don't know if the powers that be knew much about him but here are his vitals from some old Solar propaganda.
If this kid isn't on a YNT, it's not for lack of exposure. As noted, Solar is a high profile team. I belive that's the club of Corben Bone, who has been in several U20 camps this cycle. Clearly, if Bone could be scouted through club play and regional ODP play, then this kid could have been spotted, too. This doesn't mean the our YNT has missed the boat. Maybe they did, and maybe this kid will turn out to be a good pro and our YNT coaches will, again, look foolish for missing a kid right under their nose. But, it could be that we've reached the point where it's easier to make the academy of a prestigious team in Europe than it is to play for our YNT. Regardless, best of luck to the kid and I hope he works his way up at AM and eventually is playing in La Liga. That would be fantastic. Odds are against this happening, but at some point some American byproduct of a Spanish academy is gonna play regularly in La Liga and it might just be this kid.
Oh that would be awesome to have an American make it onto my favorite team! Lets hope he can make it.
Only 350? Barcelona alone carries 60 kids in its academy. There are 20 teams in La Liga. There are about 100 well-to-do clubs in the top six leagues.
Good luck to Philip but Atletico's B team is in serious danger of being relegated to the Tercera division, which is basically semi-pro ball. Maybe after a good season there they could get promoted back up. http://marcawas5.recoletos.es/Estad...ion=1&competicion=7&grupo=1&temporada=2006-07
Has anyone heard anything more about this? The only place I've seen it reported is the press release I posted originally, which is in lots of places... The club wrote back to say "read our web site" but I haven't seen mention of him there yet.
Philip Spiegelberg to Atletico Madrid confirmed http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/atletico/es/desarrollo/.html He just passed the trial to join the Atletico youth ranks Philip: I fell in love with Atletico while in Texas His name is Philip Spiegelberg, is American, is 18 years old and has just passed the tryout to join the youth ranks at Atlético de Madrid. How does a Texas boy come to play for Atlético? I played fútbol in the US. Rafael Guanes saw one of my videos and he invited me for a tryout with Atlético. Right now I'm returning home to get my visa, but in August I'll return to Madrid to play with the youth team. Did you know about the team before coming on trial? Yes, of course. In the US I have three tv channels that show fútbol. That's how I came to know Atlético and I fell in love with the team. That's when I wanted to come play in the Spanish league, that it's the best in the world, and I wanted to triumph with Atlético. This team is unique, and in my opinion is better than Madrid, Barcelona, Milan... Have you been to the Calderón stadium yet? I saw it my first day in Spain. It was impressive teh moment that I was walking up the stairs and saw the pitch. That day I said, "I want to play here whatever it takes." Have you adapted to life in Spain over the six months you've been here? Very well. People here are friendly, and everybody tries to help me out. What took longest to adapt to were the meal times, being that in Texas I eat at 8am, 12pm and 6pm. What position do you play on the field? I'm an offensive midfielder, and I can play on either wing because I'm good with both feet. My primary skill is that I strike the ball hard, and I'm a strong passer. What's more, in the US they call me "The Gunslinger", being that I shot so hard, and with ease. His father played in Germany Philip's father was the one responsible for him choosing futbol over other traditional American sports: "It was he who ingrained in me the love of the game. He played in Argentina, Brasil... and also Germany. He'd take me out almost every day to shoot against a wall to learn how to shoot". Beckham, a social phenomenon Philip is clear that the arrival of Becks to the US will be a big deal: "Everybody in the US, even those who don't like fútbol, knows Beckham. As it is, the people who no nothing about fútbol believe he is the best player in the world. Besides that, he's going to fill all the stadiums".
My pleasure. I also looked in AS and the official club site, but oddly enough found nothing at either two. Reading through the comments to the article, the Philip seems to have endeared himself to the Atleti fans as a result of the best club in the world bit.
I looked him up. His name's John Spiegelberg and he appears to have played overseas (not sure if he's American or American-born). Now working in youth coaching in Texas: A big Lonestar Welcome to our new Director of Coaching John Spiegelberg. http://www.lubbocklonestar.org/news.php
Sinko somehow your link didn't get posted correctly: http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/atletico/es/desarrollo/1003294.html It's missing the number at the end. Thanks for finding that article. Also, all I could find on his Dad is that he was a pro in Germany and Chile. At least that's what this Lubbock Elite Soccer Club site sez: http://www.freewebs.com/lubbockelite/
Here's a story from a Texas radio web site: Could Lubbock someday be internationally famous as the home of Philip Spiegelberg? Yup. It could happen. Link: http://newsradio1420.com/newsradio/newsMaker.asp?storyID=7029 It includes a picture of Philip from the article Sinko translated, so I guess we can confirm this one for good now! (Can't get it to show up, maybe someone else can...)
I found a recent update on this kid in La Marca. Can anyone translate this to English? No habla Espanol. http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/atletico/es/desarrollo/1025556.html Phipip Spiegelberg espera la llamada del Atlético entrenándose con el Dallas Phipip Spiegelberg, juvenil que estuvo la pasada campaña a prueba en el Atlético y que está esperando la llamada del club colchonero para volver la temporada que viene, se encuentra entrenándose con la primera plantilla del Dallas FC, club profesional de la Major League Soccer, al que se ha enfrentado recientemente David Beckham con los Galaxy. Philip se encuentra muy a gusto en Dallas aunque su intención es la de retornar al equipo español lo antes posible.