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Bijev called up by Bulgaria for upcoming Euro U-21 qualifiers

Villyan Bijev (ussoccer.com)

Villyan Bijev’s international future is officially up in the air.

Bijev, a 20-year-old forward who currently is in Liverpool’s system, has been called up by Bulgaria’s Under-21 team for a pair of Euro U-21 qualifiers vs. Andorra in early June. Should Bijev play in either of those matches, he would be provisionally cap-tied to Bulgaria and would need to file a one-time switch in order to play again for a U.S. Men’s National Team at any level.

Bijev has previously represented both the U.S. U-20 and U-18 teams, but has not been called in for recent camps by U-20 head coach Tab Ramos. Bijev reportedly turned down a call-up from Bulgaria’s U-21 side last year, but it appears he has now had a change of heart as to which nation to represent internationally.

What do you think of Bijev being called in for Bulgaria’s upcoming U-21 qualifiers? Still confident that he will eventually represent the United States? Indifferent about it all?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Hes not that good. Did next to nothing in both his loan opportunities and yet people continue to hype him up.They’re dozens of other kids in this country who are better than him. Just because he was signed by Liverpool doesnt make him a great player and just because hes a pro player doesnt mean he is inherently better than any college player. Brandon Allen, who also wasnt called in by Ramos, scored more goals in the USSDA than Bijev in less games. Anybody claiming Ramos is in the wrong here simply dont know what they are talking about. Its not US Soccer’s fault some kid is too soft to stick it out with the US because there are better options on the team

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  2. Maybe some of you remember but didnt he join LFC at or around the same time Pelosi did? From what I remember, his signing was a little curious because he was not that highly regarded among youth scouts. Is this the same kid?

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  3. i’d like to know why Ramos left him out of the U-20 squad. sounds like he is playing regularly for the U-21 team. is he just too old for the U-20 World Cup? he is 20 and turned 20 on January 3, 1993. does Ramos not rate him?

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    • He didn’t play much on loan. He was eligible for the U-20s though, so if he ends up being good, we can blame Ramos, Klinsmann, etc.

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  4. Dude was born and raised in California. Looks like another traitor in the Rossi, Subotic, Najar mold. Guess he doesn’t plan on playing in any world cups during his career. Good bye, you won’t be missed!

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      • Should’ve waited until he became a citizen. Now he can’t even get in the Honduras team anyway. Serves him right.

      • what? he never felt comfortable to call himself American. he came here before high school and yes, he went to high school in the DC area, but the kid wouldn’t even do interviews in english.

    • Oh please, he received a call up. He hasn’t accepted it, and he hasn’t taken to the field. His options are wide open. He might be gaming for U-21 exposure to drum up better loan interest from clubs. What’s good for Bijev’s career development is good for us. In the end he will rep the US because 1) TEAM USA needs strikers, and 2) Team USA gets him to the World Cup.

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  5. oh no, another one out.. i think he was native to Bulgaria and just lived a couple years in California, right.. Similar to the Ibavic and Subatic situations..

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    • Check your standings before you speak. Bulgaria is 2nd to Italia in a very difficult group (w/ Denmark, Czech Rep., Armenia), but with a very good chance of making it to the playoffs.

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  6. Problem is? The dude should leave Liverpool. Head to a club in Holland or Belgium or Portugal. Be a starter.Otherwise he wont be getting a call up fron JK for years

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    • I don’t think that the lack of a call up from Klinsmann has anything to do with the situation, I don’t think that Bijev expected a call up to the senior team for the WC qualifiers. However, the potential problem is that Bijev was snubbed by our U20 team that called up several college players that train with their teams 4 months per year per NCAA regulations. I will personally give Tab Ramos the benefit of the doubt, but a guy, who trains professionally and plays with Liverpools’ academy year round, might be pissed. Remember Rongen saying that Subotic was not good enough for his team? I bet we could have used Subotic on our back line in this WC qualification cycle, but he is cap tied by another nation.

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      • Rongen has said repeatedly that he didn’t call up Subotic to the u-20 wc because he wasn’t fully fit.Subotic used it as an excuse to defect to Serbia, im asuming he thought it would be better for his career.

      • Yup this has the makings of a potential Subotic move. We don’t call him up now and he represents Bulgaria and potentially becomes an amazing player in the future. Hard to say what will happen. This is part of the problem with relying on so many dual nationals though. The MLS academies need to get going full speed ahead.

      • and Suotic has said repeatedly he was fine and was cleared to play but that Rongen still said no. so he said F it.

      • yeah, basically. and Subotic has a lot less reasons to lie. no gain for him. he’s playing for Serbia now. who are solid.

      • I don’t know Subotic’s reasoning but to me it seems like getting snubbed for a youth tourney is not a strong reason to switch aliegance.If he was snubbed from the senior team for a period of time then I would understand it.

      • well, that may be the case. i’m not arguing if Subotic was in the right for ignoring the US just because he wasn’t in a youth tourny.

        i’m simply commenting on the story of whether Subotic was actually fit enough to play in the tourny Rongen left him out of.

    • He did get loaned out. However, he didn’t play much on loan – if I remember correctly. Bulgaria are doing exactly what we do: a young player, playing for a good team, who’s qualified to represent us? Cap tie him early!

      Let’s be honest: NCAA is still weaker than the development squads a guy like Bijev plays against. The advantage those NCAA players have is that it’s easier to see those games.

      There needs to be a better way to evaluate young players playing abroad.

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      • from Liverpool’s website:

        “During his spell there (Fortuna Düsseldorf), he notched four goals in 16 appearances for the second team and played one game for the senior side. In August 2012, Bijev joined IK Start on a one-year loan before returning to Liverpool in February 2013.”

      • But is the NCAA really weaker than Fortuna and IK Start second teams? Granted i dont know much about those teams but I mean Dempsey, Reyna, Freidel, Ramos, Keller, Pope, Subotic, Boca, Cherundolo, Guzan, Harkes, Demerit, Edu, Holden, Jones, Mathis, Meola, McBride, Olsen, Gooch, Wynalda, Hejduk, Gonzalez and Ibsevic, just to name a few, is a good track record of developing solid pros with strong high level careers.

        Akron was able to beat 2 spanish 2nd division teams with a rag tag group of freshman and sophmores (because the rest of the team went pro) while on vacation. Conor O’brien is doing great in the Danish league and he played 4 years in college. Same could be said for Davies and Bedoya who both stared in the same league Bijev couldnt make the bench. Indiana beat Chivas’ u-23 team. Notre Dame beat the Mexican u-20’s.

        I find it very hard to believe that if Bijev played in the ACC he would be playing against less talent. He may not have even started on most teams. Most ACC teams are 15 deep with pro potential talent that are only a couple years away from being highly touted prospects and youth national teamers.

      • “Akron was able to beat 2 spanish 2nd division teams” please my friend you don’t know much about football.No one cares about stupid friendly games maybe Akron lol.

      • College soccer is a joke, this guy is with freaking Liverpool.
        If Akron is so amazing, those players should go play for Liverpool instead of ending up as the next… Zarek Valentin.

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