One-time U.S. youth international Preston Zimmerman doesn't have a single cap for the senior U.S. national team, and while it wasn't likely that he'd be receiving his first call-up sometime soon anyway based on his current level of play and club standing, he didn't do himself any favors by using social media to voice his opinion about the current U.S. set-up.
Zimmerman, a 23-year-old Washington native currently playing for German third-division side SV Darmstadt 98, went off on Jurgen Klinsmann and the state of the U.S. program via his Twitter feed on Wednesday, centering his argument on the fact that all of the dual-nationality, German-American call-ups on the national team take away from the genuine, American aspect of the team.
In a series of consecutive tweets Zimmerman wrote:
"I thought it would be cool getting Klinsmann as US National team coach, but I think it's actually worse than when Bradley was coach….
"Requirements to get on US National team under Klinsmann: Be a fake American, be born outside the US, have one US distant relative
"I see the team is calling in guys who are really germans who know they've got no chance of playing for germany so they'll settle with the US
"Thats embarrassing when a good friend of mine says he met one of the guys @ the airport & he couldnt reply back in English as US Natl player
"I try my hardest not to tweet US soccer stuff but there are some stuff out there that drive me crazy
"Don't mistake any of my tweets for jealousy, I never expect to be called in or involved with anything and it doesn't hurt my feelings
"I would just like to see true, real Americans who would live and die for this country representing our country
"But when the olympic team holds mini-camps in Germany with all 'european players' then something is wrong
"The kids in college are just as good, if not better, than some of the kids from the reserve teams getting invited to camp
"But the college kids don't speak German and they don't have ties outside the US so they don't qualify for the US under Klinsmann
"Am I the only one here who thinks this or are there others? People have to speak up when they don't like what's going on
"If Klinsmann was winning and very successful with his approach then my words would carry no weight, but I don't see any success
"squeaking out 1-0 wins against CONCACAF villages isn't success…..
"People can bash me for whatever reason, but I hate seeing my country's national team being misused and disrespected
"I know plenty of guys who are in the MLS and know what it's like to play for their country who deserve a look for the US team
"I hope the US team wins and dominates just as much as anybody else because it's my country and I want my country to be #1 and dominate
"Don't want anybody to take my tweets negatively or as criticism to make somebody look bad, I just have passion and interest in the US team"
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What do you make of Zimmerman's comments? Do you agree with him? Think he's way off base?
Share your thoughts below.
lol!
As an answer to some comments about my earlier post:
I’m disappointed a few people chose to take a few lines of what was basically a positive opinion out of context. My point was that anyone who wants to be an American (regardless of your race, ethnicity or country of origin) should be welcomed on the U.S. National team. I was differentiating this from people who might use technicalities to create the best international soccer opportunity for themselves. This has nothing to do with race. And, outside of a suspicion (but not an accusation)about Jermaine Jones, I didn’t accuse any current member of the U.S. player pool of doing this. In fact, I pointed out that some dual nationals were NOT doing it.
My comments also had nothing to do with the technical requirements for citizenship. I’m not saying these players aren’t entitled to citizenship. So “Marco’s” point about this being a “nation of laws” is irrelevant. I don’t dispute that.
Those who picked out exceptions in my “True Americans” definition didn’t read my post carefully enough. See below:
“3. To me America is a country of choice. Unlike VIRTUALLY any other country, MOST Americans are here because they themselves or their ancestors chose to become Americans.” EMPHASIS ADDED
Yes, many countries have multi-ethnic populations. In fact, that extends beyond the western hemisphere to every country in the world (tribal ancestry, etc.). My point was that the United States has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the world and derives a greater share of its population from immigration than most other countries.
The focus on my use of the term “True American” was odd since it was pretty clear that I was trying to fit my point within the comments Zimmerman made. That’s why I used quotes. I had forgotten that Zimmerman used “real americans” instead of “true americans.”
I hope this discussion continues (whether stemming from this Zimmerman article or future articles). I think this is an interesting and nuanced issue for U.S. Soccer. So I would be curious to see what people think about it.
Dual nationals are nothing new to USMNT. This list starts at 1990…
Hugo Perez
Tab Ramos
Earnie Stewart
Thomas Dooley (German: beaten by Klinsmann in 1998 WC
David Regis (no english)
Pablo Mastroeni
Carlos Llamosa
Benny Feilhaber
So why are we complaining now..