Yura M to Randers (Yank abroad?) [R]

Doesn't everyone have the "potential" for U.S. citizenship?

 

He has a My Space page.

Wife's name is Maryanne.

 

Techincally... yes.


But yea, if he chooses Armenia then close this thread. There is no use to follow him if he already chose another path. Same goes with all the kids having this dilemma. The argentines come to mind, and once they get their first full cap, we should stop making threads about these kids.

 

The key here is that Yura is not a US citizen and therefore not a YA. A bit of an exception was made to allow this thread because people were interested in him because of his years in MLS and his expressed interest in someday playing for the USMNT.
I'm sorry I started this line of discussion, but I just feel that maybe it is a lesson that we shouldn't make exceptions and only allow "official" YAs in this forum. Just my opinion and will abide by the majority and/or the decision of the powers that be (DK, FQ, Bungadiri, Huss, et al).

 

Someone's going off the rails on a crazy train.

 

Ozzie!!! I knew it was you!!!

 

And Yura never lived in Armenia nor Subotic in Serbia by the way. Feelings, shmeelings. Armenia is playing Russia in qualifiers. Russia is the most overpaid league in the world. Yura speaks Russian and lived there. That's all about business.

 

Yura has told the local newspaper the following:

"I have always been very interested in Armenian soccer and the Armenian national team; after having talked with Ruben Hayrapetyan (Precident of the Armenian soccer federation) I decided that I want to play for my country."

He should get his first cap tonight against Iran...

The article (in Danish)

 

And my interest in Yura is over. I wish him good luck on his club and international career...

 

Same. God why would he do such a thing??? He is married to a american.... why not persue USA? Is he really that impatient?

 

What if he isn't good enough after waiting 3 years? Although I think Armenia will still be around in 3 years as well.

 

Maybe he feels a stronger connection to his home country and wants to represent them regardless of his eligibility for the US. Is that really so hard to believe?

 

Exactly. thank you for countering yourself.

Well... his past statements said different. I guess somehow he got a change of heart.

 

Not a surprise. It's happened before (Bakary Soumare)...........and will happen again.

3-4 years is a hell of a long time to wait while there are other national teams knocking on your door. Movsisyan could get injured waiting for his US citizenship to come thru and lose the opportunity to play at the international level. And there's zero garauntee that in 3 years, Movsisyan would still be wanted by the USMNT. Quite a gamble to take.

Yura made the correct decision. It's one thing if you're 17 years old like Andy Najar......and quite another if you're 23. Imagine you're a 23 year old with international opportunities, and you're other option is to wait until you're 27 for the possibility of playing international football. You'd be sitting on the sidelines during your prime. Not worth it. Sorry. Football careers are too short to have that kind of patience.

 

Armenia will STILL suck at soccer in three years.

 

Even if he never played for the US, he's always have Armenia to fall back on.

Also , given his form recently, I hear many clubs are looking at him in better leagues then the danish league (thats the league he is in right?). I wouldnt be surprised if a bundesliga club comes and snatches him up.

 

Till he played official game he is not capped, Armenia starts Euro 2012 qualifying on Sept 3rd, if he plays there, he's gone.
He made a pure business decision as all professionals usually do, it was not about where his heart belongs to. If he had a chance to select to play for Honduras or Romania he would do that in a heartbeat.

 

I didn't have any luck finding the lineup for the Armenian side (could only find Iran); however, I did find some highlights including all 4 goals if anyone is interested.

 

Here's a link to the announcement (about Yura's switch) from Armenian federation website:

http://www.ffa.am/en/news/item/2010/08/09/announcement1/

Can't find Armenian lineup for today's game anywhere.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo"]YouTube- ‪Nelson‬‎[/ame]

 

Well, i found info on Armenian soccer forum - Yura played 15 minutes today, and Armenians believe he was capped:

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought friendlies don't count (Jermaine Jones played 3 friendlies for Germany NT and then switched to USA).

 

the difference is when he got his first cap in a friendly for Germany he was already a US citizen and eligible for the USMNT. once you are capped for a NT you are no longer eligible for any other national team that you weren't eligible for at the time of being capped. as far as i understand it the "capped in an A international" (ie a match that matters) only comes into things if you are eligible for more than one team at the time of your first cap (of any kind). until you play in an A international you are still eligible to make a "one time switch" tor any teams you were eligible for at the time of your first cap of any kind.

so basically if you are a player and currently eligible for Country A, Country B and Country C and chose to play a friendly for Country A you can still switch (one time) to either Country B or Country C right up until the point you play in an "A international match" for Country A.

if you are a player who is eligible for Country A and Country B but not currently eligible for Country C (as in you could be a citizen and eligible but haven't finished the process yet) and you chose to play a friendly for Country A you may still switch "one time" to Country B up until you play an A International Match for Country A but you can NEVER play for Country C because you, by virtue of playing for one team before you secured your full eligibility for another, have lost all eligibility to play for Country C.

that is how i understand Article 18 of FIFAs regulations on player eligibility for National Team participation.