http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundersfcblog/2016090590_zakuani_on_his_national_team_f.html "It was a friendly against Mali and was a lot of fun but it doesn't tie me to the Congo national team. I'm eligible for England too, even though that looks to be more than a long shot at the moment. And in a few years I'll be able to play for the USA. Of the three, I prefer the States, as this is where I made my name as a player, but we'll see how things turn out." Could have some decent wing depth in the coming years if we get him, Gatt & Chandler.
Don't forget Shea, Rogers, Johnson, Beasley, and, hopefully, Gyau. Could make it a lot easier to move LD/Deuce inside/up top.
Hopefully in a few years, most "better than average" MLSers will become irrelevant to the NT picture. Is this kid even going to be good enough? Don't know to much about his development, but he's really far down on the depth chart
Have you seen Zakuani play much? He was, before the injury, one of the best players in MLS. He was quite good and would be a welcome asset. I would rate him ahead of Robbie R and other wingers in our pool.
In other words, yes, very much worth it assuming he comes back strong from injury. Perfect fit for Klinsman's system, very good player and one of the best attackers in MLS.
Odd comment considering you username. Zakuani has been far more impressive as an MLS player (pre-injury) than either Bunbury or Agudelo.
Way more effective than Robbie Rogers. Better soccer brain than Robbie Rogers. This is big news. Hope he recovers fully. You can never have enough wide players in the stable.
The only real issue with Zakuani is he really only plays one side of the field. But as an attacker, I agree wholeheartedly, and I'm a Crew fan.
For what it's worth, I was watching "that game" with a friend of mine who is a surgeon, who said that Zakuani should recover completely if he stays dedicated to his rehab.
Zakuani was one of the five best attackers in MLS last year. Over the course of the season, it was probably Ferriera, Buddle, Donovan, De Rosario, and Zakuani. For comparison, compare Zakuani's 2010 to Brek Shea's 2011. Zakuani in 2010: 29 GP, 10 G, 6 A (.393 goals/90, .236 assists/90) Shea in 2011: 26 GP, 10 G, 3 A (.390 goals/90, .117 assists/90) Shea has widely been hailed as a breakout player this year and will probably win MLS MVP. Zakuani's production was basically the same if not slightly better last year in a season where scoring was lower (2.46 GPG last year, 2.54 this year). I wonder if he'll be the same given how much of his game relied on his speed, but Zakuani was definitely an elite MLS player last year.
I said assuming, because its just speculation at this point. Think of it more like a mathematical assumption, "Assuming A to be true, then we can conclude B" type of deal.
Played for Congo, wanted to play for England, but not good enough.............and now he says he wants to play for the USA? A bit of a mercenary, eh?
Zakuani is good but currently there is better. Unless he goes on another tear and keeps that form, then I don't see it. With the emergence of younger wingers, I just dont see zakuani having a roster spot.
I'm confused. He says his appearance for Congo doesn't cap tie him, but I thought once you appear in a national team game, you can only play for countries who you were eligible for when you were capped. Since he wasn't eligible for team USA when he was capped by Congo, I thought the door for team USA was permanently closed. Am I wrong?
I'm aware. An appearance in an official competition would cap tie him. But that wasn't the question I had. I thought that appearances in friendlies limit you to only the nations who you are eligible for at the time for that first appearance. For example, if Najar were to appear in a friendly with Honduras, since he's not a U.S. citizen, I thought that would prevent him from ever playing for USA, even if it's just a friendly. I thought the same held true for Zakuani. So I ask, do I just have the rules wrong?
If he was capped in a Contenital tournament(mainly the African Cup tournament) then yes he would've been cap tied to Congo, but since that game he played was a meaningless friendly he isn't cap tied and that means he can play for whichever team he wants and he wants to play for the USA.
LD is going to lose a step or two as time goes by. Neither Altidore nor Aguadelo have blazing speed. Zakuani has tremendous speed, and because we aren't going to out-skill or out-vision many top-tier teams, we still need guys like that.
He already HAS lost a step or two. Zakuani would be a nice option for the US. I'm not going to get my hopes up though. 2 years is a long time.
There are guys on these boards far more conversant with the fifa statutes than I. That said, I think your question is legitimate. I understood it that it was not whether he is captied by the friendly {which he would not be} but whether the appearance would create an association with a federation. And at that point--once the association was created--the player could only switch to another association for which he was eligible at that time the association was created. WHile that might leave England on the table, it would appear that the US would be out.....at least per those Subotic discussions....In fact, isn't it a Subotic situation? While he wasn't captied anywhere, he had the association with US soccer and could only switch to those places for whom he was eligible when he appeared for the US? [ie, bosnia, and serbia but not Germany]?