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U.S. Soccer confirms Green call-up, but one-time switch not yet filed

JulianGreenBayernMunich3 (AFP)

By DAN KARELL

U.S. Soccer confirmed on Friday that Bayern Munich U-23 midfielder Julian Green will indeed join the U.S. Men’s National Team next month, though only for training purposes.

News broke on Thursday afternoon in a report from German publication BILD that Green had been called up by USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann to the U.S. squad for friendlies on Nov. 15 against Scotland and Nov. 19 against Austria.

However, Klinsmann has clarified that because the 18-year-old Green has played for Germany in an official FIFA competition (UEFA U-19 qualifying), and would have to file a one-time switch to play for the USA, he’s only joining the USMNT to train and for the  coaching staff to get to know him better.

“Julian Green is a tremendous talent,” Klinsmann said in a statement. “We have been scouting him for more than two years, and we are thrilled to bring him into our camp and introduce him to the senior team program. We believe we could help him grow into a special player.”

Though he represented the U.S. with the Under-18 team at a camp in September 2012 in the Netherlands, the Tampa, Fla. native most recently played for the German U-19s in October, playing in all three of the side’s games as a second half substitute and recording two assists as Germany advanced to the Elite qualifying round of UEFA U-19 Championship qualifying.

Green has started his 2013/2014 season on a positive note, scoring 13 times in his first 14 games with the Bayern Munich U-23 team, effectively the team’s reserve squad. If Green hadn’t agreed to join the USMNT for their November camp, he would likely have joined the Germany U-19s for two friendly matches against France U-19s.

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What do you think of this development? Did you expect him to just come to train? Do you see Green having a positive experience with the squad and coaching staff? Do you see him turning up a chance to represent

Comments

  1. It’s a shame we never planted some US servicemen in Spain some years ago. It’d be great to get a pipeline flowing from there too. And while we’re at it, France and Italy. And Brazil. And Argentina. Come on US, get to imperializing! Your soccer fate depends on it!

    Reply
    • Yeah, weird that there aren’t more British American and Italian Americans because we had tons of servicemen there also for a long time. I think its just because it may have been harder for people of African-American descent to fit in in Germany, but maybe easier in Italy and Britain? Weird. Maybe it is just pure numbers, Germany had a ton of American bases during the cold war.

      Reply
      • These servicemen would also need to possess an elite goldmine of athletic genes. And persuade their no-daughters-but-just-sons family that soccer is the sport of choice. Yep, such a wasted opportunity.

      • How many Italian/British soccer players with an African-American parent are there in the Championship/Premier League/Serie A/Seria B?

        I don`t want to play the sour Kraut on here. But I don`t see how the non existance of any player of African-American heritage speaks in favour of the English/Italian youth development programme.

  2. Poor Jurgen, always going to the well that is German born black players. Can you blame him? He’s used to working with better quality not what he has on hand. So he knows to win, he has to convince people who grew up in German (with African American fathers) to so he can have a decent team.

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    • WTF? “German (with African American fathers)” Newsflash, our teams isn’t made up of 100% Native Americans. Determining Americaness by length of stay is completely arbitrary.

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      • +1

        And who cares if the German-American players are black? Plenty of American-raised players are too. No need at all for that sort of prejudiced rhetoric.

      • While the post is a bit obtuse, the OP presents a good question. Why is it that the USMNT German born players/prospects almost always the children of Black servicemen? Is it possible that the children of German mothers and White fathers from the U.S. armed forces are more easily integrated in to the German National team setup?

      • you don`t expect those players to admit that they are not good enough to play for the German national team, do you?

      • If the issue is race, then your comment entirely misses the point. Black Germans may not like German cuture as much as American culture. That’s what the acceptance is about.

      • @Joamiq: how do I miss the point? Scott wrote “CNN made a report WHY these players picked the USNT” – and I wrote that the “why” is misleading, because they are simply not good enough to play for Germany.

        And whether black Germans are more inclined to like American culture than white Germans is a question for the racial profiles on here.

      • Karol,

        They may or may not be good enough to play for Germany. You might be right with that even Jermaine was capped and Fabian might have had a chance to be in the pool. Neither, I venture, would make the WC or Euro rosters.

        That being said, I cannot believe that you currently live in Germany and do not get the sense that there is a dichotomy with non-ethnic Germany citizens and ethnic Germany citizens. It exists, you mean to tell that you have never seen people talk about Turkish Germans, non-White Germans in general. It was even a big deal years ago that Klose and Podolski were Polish. I can definitely see them non feeling completely accepted. Most people are fine, but that strain definitely exists. I can even give you examples.

      • I don`t deny that those issues exist. I do deny that they play a role in “choosing” a senior national team (although there isn`t really a choice as I`ve already stated).

        And yes, racism/xenopbia is more open in Germany than in the US. But I can also give you examples of racism you will find in the US and less so in Germany – it`s a different type of racism, mind you.

      • And furthermore I don`t remember anything regarding Klose and Podolski. There are about 3 million Kloses and Podolskis living in Germany and knowbody talks about those Silesian immigrants.

        I find it offensive to even consider them as Polish, since they are “Spätaussiedler”.

      • Karol,

        I do agree that racism, ethnic discrimination (or just general prejudice) exists everywhere. It just different in different places depending on a country’s cultural idiosyncrasies and history.

        However, I was never saying it was in issue when choosing players for the national team. I believe at that elite a level or any employment, the powers that be who just choose the best players. I was talking about their experiences growing up in Germany and how that would make them feel about representing Germany now.

        As far as Klose and Poldoski are concerned, it happened with the 2006 team that Jurgen put together. There was talk about this was the “new Germany” and it was the first truly diverse team. It occurred when Germany and Poland played in the group stages.

      • Paul,

        as I`ve already admitted Germans are more open about their racist/xenophobic views than other people. In general, Germans are much more direct/straight in your face than Americans – and many Americans who come to Germany and Germans who come to the US, myself included, struggle with that particular cultural difference.

        While I do agree that someone with a biracial background might not feel accepted by German society – in indivual cases, I highly doubt that same applies to kids who are good at playing soccer. Germany is a soccer-mad country and someone who is talented at playing the game will be the most popular guy at school, the one who gets the hottest girlfriends,etc. In other words, I regard players like Julian Green as “priviledged” and not as “victims” of German society.

        A child who is good at playing soccer might feel more accepted within Germany than the US – regardless of his background.

        I have lived and studied in Poland in 2006. And from my experience Poles had more problems with Klose and Podolski playing for Germany than Germans. But those Spätaussiedler who moved to Germany from Poland in general feel accepted.

      • I don’t buy this. If that were the case then how did Boateng, Odonkor, Cacau,, Asamoah, not have issues playing with the German national team? They seem to have been accepted just fine.

      • then tell me the names of the “white” German-Americans in the German national team setup,please. I don`t know any.

        Maybe the sons of white American servicemen get discriminated against, because there aren`t any who make it to the 1st or 2nd Bundesliga…

      • Americans don’t understand what Spataussiedler is because we don’t look at nationality as being based on ethnic roots. From our point of view if a person was born in Poland, whether it was formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Prussian Empire and the person has a German ethnic heritage, to us that just means Polish. Also I don’t think we can understand the concept of being offended that someone is mistaken as being Polish rather than German because of the ethnic background, that would strike an American as oddly racist.

      • The concept of Spätaussiedler allows ethnic Germans who were discrminated against for being German (they were not allowed to speak German,go to universities,etc) to return to their ancestral home country. I thought it was offensive, because I have many friends who have the same background as Podolski and Klose and they would feel offended if somebody called them Polish/Russian.

        You would understand this concept if you didn`t have stable borders. What if Texas became a part of Mexico from 2020 to 2040, a part of the US again from 2040 till 2050 and finally Mexican in 2050?

        The Israelis have similar laws and their “law of return” also applies to American Jews. Do you also find these laws racist?

      • I am Bavarian. I only have some Swiss/Austrian ancestors in my family tree. I am however a little bit of a specialist as far as Middle Eastern,Eastern Europe is concerned. I speak Polish and basic Russian and hence many of my friends have a Polish/Russian background. Unfortunately,
        I don`t know people from Siebenbürgen – the only one I can remember is a nurse I`ve met in a hospital recently.

      • If in fact you are a bitter Mexican fan Jay Bonds, I find it completely ridiculous that’d you say such a thing considering Mexico is naturalizing Argentinians in a desperate attempt to salvage their WC hopes it’s pathetic. El Tri is the only pity case between our two teams.

  3. Can I just say…things are looking good for US soccer. Improving quality of MLS and a never ending pipeline of German-American dual nationals, gotta love it.

    Reply
      • I’m talking about the amount of quality young players doing big things. I see this trend continuing, and it’s exciting. Also, we’re seeing more and more of our national team being made up of MLS guys and if we’re able to keep them in the league this will help continue it’s development. I love the emphasis Jurgen is putting on the domestic league. Like he said at halftime of the LA-Sounders game:

        “The growth of MLS is crucial to the national team – [and] our success is crucial for soccer in the entire country. I call the national team the locomotive of soccer in the country, and therefore you work hand in hand.”

        I completely agree, and I think with Klinsi at the helm we will continue the development of MLS. In regards to the Concacaf CL, I’m not really sure why we haven’t had more success. Maybe it just comes down to a lack of depth needed for these types of tournaments, and maybe a more serious approach to them, not really sure how important this is to most MLS teams, probably more focused on league play.

      • Umm…. What? The Gold Cup is not a club competition. And the USA did win the Gold Cup with a team largely made up of MLS players.

      • Gold Cup? You’re clueless.

        If you mean the CCL, then the fact that MLS hasn’t won it yet is completely irrelevant to the question of whether MLS quality is improving. But you’re probably too dumb to understand that.

      • @Jay Bonds

        Wanted:

        Any Argentinians willing to play for the National team for absurd amounts of money and long term contracts

        – FMF

  4. I just reviewed this guy’s bio. He has been playing for German youth teams since the U-16 team, and then he made one trip to the US U-18 team in 2012. He is probably more like Timmy Chandler. He wants to play for Germany, but he would like to keep his options open. In addition, like Timmy Chandler he his agent is probably telling him that showing interest in the US Men’s Team will be good for his career. It puts his name in the paper, and it tells the Germans that they need to include him more if they want to keep him. I would not have too many hopes for him, but it is still smart for the USMNT to try and recruit him. We can’t really lose anything by doing this.

    Reply
  5. He is quite a talent. I also have my eyes on Jack Mcinerney. I ALSO have my eyes on MLS. The guys that really stand out in MLS are the ones who really dominate the league. The younger and more dominating show the most upside for a international career. Some players blossom later and some sooner, but the point being, for playing at the highest level, a player dominating the league is a good litmus test. These kinds of players will do well in any league in Europe.

    Reply
    • Germany really does not introduce younger players to the senior team unless the talent is the exception to the norm. Most of the norm is the senior team looks for dominating players at specific positions throughout whatever league they are playing in. National teams still play the fundamental game kids do on the weekends, but the level of fundamentals is extremely high.

      Reply
  6. I am just guessing JK thinks he can draw better talent to soccer here by winning big and going deeper in WC so to JK, it does not matter where the talent are, he wants them. It may upset some people but so what ? Imagine if we can get to be the final 4 teams in WC .

    Reply
  7. This is a win any way you look at it.

    1. Introduce him to the team

    2. If he’s good enough, he might have the chance to get the World Cup now with the U.S., so he’d make the switch

    3. He creates competition for other spots on the team by virtue of his call-up

    4. Brings further notoriety to the USMNT

    Reply
      • Bayern’s reserves. he may very well turn into a stellar player, but is he at the point where he deserves a spot in the limited roster size for the WC in about 7 months?

      • Bayern is great at signing up the best talent. They’re not as outstanding (though far from bad) at development. It’s not Ajax or la Masia. It’s quite an accomplishment but we’ve got others playing in the 2.bundesliga. Bayern’s reserves are good but not as dominant as their top team.

  8. Nice. I’m excited for the kid. I think JK has learned that just because someone is a dual-national doesn’t mean he has to call them in–gone are the days of trying to force the issue and getting guys like Timmy Chandler to buy into the USMNT. So if Green is accepting the call-up, even if it’s just for the coaches to get a look at him and for him to meet his potential teammates, that’s a really good sign. But whichever team Green chooses–the USA or Die Mannschaft–I wish him luck.

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  9. If he can get the ball to the forwards we have a viable player. Those that speak German better make him realize if not for the USNMT they would not be going to the World Cup.

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    • Will be interesting who Klinsman calls up and who rooms with the kid. I’m guessing Terrence Boyd and his american eagle are his roommate.

      Does he call in the rest of the German/American contingent as well.. Who’s the welcome committee?

      Reply
  10. I’m always cautious when it come to getting on the bandwagon with young players. He’s 18, and unproven on the senior level world stage. Let’s see what he does in these friendlies before we start talking about “cornerstones of the next 3 WC cycles.”

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    • I think we can all get behind an 18 year old that is scoring at will for Bayern’s reserves. We’re not talking Junior Flores here…

      Reply
      • He is like 95% on the way to being a professional player. I doubt he will break Bayern’s first team. I can’t say that it be a failure on his part either. There is no room in that team for anyone. Well maybe Centerback.

  11. Cautiously optimistic, it still seems like Green is keeping his options open.

    But just to gush, I feel like this is the first dual citizen who really could threaten to make the German squad, as nice as Fabian and Brooks have been they couldn’t seriously threaten for regular starting time with ze Germans, this Julian Green kid looks like he could. He’s still 18 though lets not turn him into an Adu.

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  12. Klinsmann is clearly the most astute, aggressive, and respected USMNT manager ever when it comes to cultivating and utilizing relationships with players and coaches.

    Reply
    • Absolutely, I can actually say I never wavered in my support of Klinsmann but whatever, I get why some would – I just love how he uses unconventional methods and they produce heretofore unconventional results for the USMNT. Love him or hate him, we have a puncher’s chance in Brazil because and not despite him.

      Reply
    • I think that people tend to forget that Klinsmann was a world class striker who was a real World Cup star and played in several different countries as a pro. As a result he has cultivated many relationships among many prominent European managers and executives (he is apparently pretty close with Wenger,for example) and prominent soccer people listen to what he has to say. He began with a credibility that other US managers didn’t have when they took the job. That and his experience with the German National team and Bayern Munich are why he is the best hire ever for the US.

      Reply
      • Oddly, I think being the US coach has strengthen his credibility. He is likely typecast as a National Team manager but I’m not sure he or anyone would consider that a bad thing at this point. England could use him for example. They have so much deadwood on that team.

      • Ja, I completely agree with your very good assessment of Herr Klinsmann’s excellent personal and soccer abilities and great coaching accomplishments with the USMNT. It looks like he is also very good in taping and using the Deutschland Fussball player farm system.

    • Shawn Parker might be a harder sell. I imagine he’s going to hold out for a Germany call up for as long as possible. And seeing how he’s still only 20 and he’s progressed pretty rapidly at Mainz, it might mean a transfer to a bigger club in the future.

      But like Love it or Leave it said, if we could lock up these three, the means potential cornerstones of our national team for the nxt three WC cycles

      Reply
      • There is already a very good core of group of players which will be available for the next cycle….if not further:
        2018 Cycle: Jozy, Johannsson, Bradley, F. Johnson, Diskerud, Besler, Gonzalez, Books, Chandler, Guzan
        2022 Cycle: Jozy, Johannsson, Brooks,

      • I would count Bradley in for the 2022 cycle assuming he stays healthy. His style of play will have him morph into a Pirlo (not comparing ability just styles!) type player who can control the game from deep in the MF with the sporadic perfectly timed run into the box.

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