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A closer look at Johannsson and his decision to play for USMNT

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmRa4pRe78?feature=player_detailpage]

Comments

  1. Aron bacon!?!? First, zusi looks like roger federer. Then jack mac looks like tom cruise. Now iceman looks like kevin bacon. Love it!!!

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  2. he looked very sharp tonight…put him in as an EJ or Dempsey sub, and with Donovan and MB pulling midfield strings…things start looking good offensively. Very excited to see him in a qualifier.

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  3. I learned a lot from the video. To hear most talk about it, he was just born in the US while his parents were here for a semester of research and left right away with no further connections.

    His good English, spending the first three years of his life in Alabama, spending summers and vacations in the US, and going to the IMG academy for a solid year somehow make the Icelandic FA’s comments even worse.

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  4. At least he can speak English!

    Great debut today, hopefully he justs gets better and better with more expierence.

    We will probably take 4 fwds to Brazil, should we make it,
    1. Jozy
    2. Dempsey
    3. EJ
    4. Open for AJo, Boyd, Gomez, Agudelo, others–right now he is winning that sweepstakes, really want to see Boyd play sometime but AJo looks like the national teamer right now

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    • His English shouldn’t be a surprise. I’m pretty sure a guy who spent a year at IMG Bradenton and visited Florida every summer growing up would probably speak English.

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      • Everyone in Iceland speaks (pretty good) english.

        (I would too if my language contained words like Eyjafjallajökull.)

    • Long way to go before WC. I think he played pretty well, but it was also one game. Towards the end of the game he had a little bit of a disconnect with the rest of the fellas up front and I think that is his only place for concern. Otherwise, he looks like a solid player. I hope to see more of him and the 4-4-2 formation.

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  5. Yes, he seems like a nice guy guy and I wish him all the luck in the world and I hope he scores lots of goals for the USMNT. That said, the interview basically reinforces my opposition to National team coaches actively and doggedly trying to recruit dual nationals. The door should, of course, be left open to them, but IMO national team coaches should not be telephoning dual nationals who already are leaning toward the country they grew up to try to make them change their mind, as it appears Klinsmann did. Would be better to simply let them make up their own minds using their own hearts with no outside interference.

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    • Not sure what you think the harm is. If you look at it from the players perspective, they have a huge life changing decision to make. A coach’s interest is one of the factors the player would consider in making the decision, as it signals whether they could be a potential key part of the team. A proactive coach is only good for the pool. Wasnt it BB’s crew that built the Germanican pipeline? Ultimately, it is the player making up his own mind and heart. Until they decide and are captied, Klinsmann or any coach has no power over them other than persuasive powers (of which apparently JK is also in possession).

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      • And a proactive coach can be a huge factor. Vedad Ibisevic said he chose Bosnia because only the Bosnia coach showed any interest. Likewise, Shalrie Joseph would have played for the US instead of Grenada had the US called first, and was definitely good enough to be our starting d-mid at the time.

    • It’s a delicate situation….. can understand the discomfort. That said…. it is not uncommon for National Team managers (JK in particular) to call, keep in touch, express interest and encouragement to top prospects with solely US citizenship. After-all, this is a player who of his own accord attended US development. Seems quite right and normal for a new manager taking over a program to reestablish contact with a player who has been involved in the past, see where he is at. What I do like to hear is AJ having made clear that JK emphasized the importance of going with his heart. I think it is a good thing to let a player know he is valued, what your program has to offer. Then…… let him, his agent, his family decide where his heart and interest lie, sounds like this is pretty much what went down. I trust that the kid and his support system took great care in making a fully informed, careful decision and respect that. So….. Welcome to the Stars and Stripes brotha!!!!!!

      Guess we’ll see see where character, talent and hard work places him within the fold…

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      • To be sure, a friendly doesnt cap tie him, correct? What is the point of no return? Is it being on the game day roster in a competitive match, or is it playing 1 second in a competitive match? Or is Aron Bacon captied now, with the FIFA paperwork done, which was referred to this week?

    • Hey, just because a woman’s already leaning towards another man, it shouldn’t stop any other formidable male from letting her know they might be interested- just saying.. If you don’t at least let them know you’re interested, you have no chance to begin with…

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  6. His English is better than I thought. Now I’m curious of how well JAB and the other AMERICANS (yes they are American, no need to attatch the German to it ) speak.

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    • Shouldn’t be surprising. He spent a year at IMG in Bradenton, and according to the commentators during the game, he and his family visited Florida every year.

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  7. great interview. kid’s english is very good and he’s got a humble charming vibe. you can see him fitting right in. interested to see him play

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  8. His career to this point is pretty unremarkable, he’s moved onto a bigger stage now so let’s see how he does. I’m not sure what he’s done to this point to merit being fast-tracked into the USMNT. Of course, my view that this kind of thing doesn’t help US Soccer is well known by regular readers of this site.

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