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The latest on the Julian Green/USMNT situation

FC Bayern Muenchen v Hansa Rostock - A Juniors Championship First Leg

By IVES GALARCEP

Nothing has changed in the four days since news first broke on Julian Green’s decision to join the U.S. Men’s National Team for a March training camp, but with some misinformation floating around, it’s a good time to catch people on what has transpired.

Green has committed to spending two days training with the USMNT in Frankfurt ahead of the March 5 friendly against Ukraine. He is not playing in, or attending, the Ukraine friendly.

Contrary to a premature report from German outlet Bild released on Friday, Green has yet to commit to playing for the United States. Sources confirmed to Goal.com on Friday that Green had not begun the application process to file a one-time Change of Association switch, which he would need to play for the United States. Green’s father also confirmed this to be the case via Twitter over the weekend.

On Tuesday, an MLS Soccer report quoted Green’s agent as confirming earlier reports that Green had only committed to attending two days of training, and had not made a decision on playing for the United States.

So where does this leave things?

Pretty much where they were on Friday, with a promising development, but still not the ultimate decision to play for the United States. U.S. fans can see it as progress though because it was Green who backed out of a call-up in November, so the fact he is willing to take part in a camp this time around suggests he is opening up to the idea of playing for the United States.

In other words, U.S. fans should be encouraged, but don’t go overreacting or celebrating just yet. The best fans can hope for is that Green enjoys a good experience during that short stint with the team, and it potentially leads to another look in the near future. Talk of the World Cup is still premature, and presumptions about which way Green will ultimately choose are pretty pointless right now.

On the promising side is the fact that Green’s father Jerry is such an outspoken supporter of Julian Green playing for the USA. The decision is still Julian’s to make, but Jerry Green has not been shy about letting people know his preference.

What do you think about all of the Julian Green hype? Excited about the possibility of him playing for the USMNT? Think folks should take it down a few notches? Hoping Klinsmann can also convince Gideon Zelalem (assuming Zelalem ever secures his U.S. citizenship)?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Here’s the thing: he’s probably the most promising teenager at the best club in the world at the moment, meaning a Germany call-up is a virtual guarantee in the next WC cycle. He would also probably choose Germany over the U.S. for some obvious reasons. He grew up in Germany, trains regularly with a bunch of their stalwarts, he plays for a German club which means German national team events are much, much more convenient for his schedule, and Germany is going to remain a much more prestigious team than the USMNT during his career.

    We have two things in our favor. First, his agent should be explaining the incredibly lucrative marketing opportunities that would be available to the first international superstar from America, given the massive, untapped market and exploding interest in soccer here. Second, only we can offer a realistic shot at going to Brazil. We must offer him that spot on the plane, or we are left with only the first factor in our favor. For the sake of the next 13 years, we must gamble a bit and get him on that plane.

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  2. Does not matter if Green would have wanted to play in this game, I know he is provessionally tied, but I bet it does not happen. Ukraine is on fire and there will be to many political issues to make it happen. Note to the world if we are coming to your town you may want to check on your political situation like Egypt in 2011

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  3. To celebrate the diversity of our country and the players in our U.S. player pool, I decided to make this post. Which team do you guys think is strongest and would come out on top in a mini-round-robin tournament?? The four teams are: 1. Caucasian/Gringos; 2. African-Americans/Blacks; 3. Latinos; 4. Germericans. Let the debate begin! Enjoy.

    1. Caucasian/Gringos
    ————————Johannson/Wondo—————————
    Dempsey——————Donovan———————-Zusi
    —————-Kljestan/Mix———–Bradley———————-
    Lichaj————-Besler————Cameron—–Evans/Parkhurst
    ——————————–Guzan————————————-

    2. African-Americans/Blacks
    ——————————Altidore————————————-
    D. Beasley————–E. Johnson——————–J. Gyau
    ———————R. Clark————M. Edu———————-
    C. Ashe———Okugo—————Onyewu———-Yedlin
    ——————————Howard———————————–

    3. Latinos
    ———————–H. Gomez/J. Agudelo————————
    Arriola———————–L. Gil———————-Villareal
    —————–Torres/Corona—–Feilhaber———————
    E. Castillo—-Orozco———-O. Gonzalez——DelaGarza/???
    ——————————-Rimando—————————————-

    4. Germericans
    ——————————-T. Boyd————————————-
    Shawn Parker———–J Green——————–A. Wooten
    ———————-J. Jones——–D. Williams——————-
    F. Jonhosno—–A. Morales—J. Brooks——-T. Chandler
    ——————————–???????———————————

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    • I’m glad someone brought up race/ethnicity, even if in a playful way. I think it’s a legitimate and valid factor for non-white Germericans to consider. Less than 1/2 of 1% of the German population is Afro-German. Germany’s MNTs have been very white. If your skin is dark and you have links to African or African-American ethnicities, you may very likely have a better chance of identifying on a personal level with the USA. While far from ideal in our race-relations and history, we are way ahead of Germany and Europe in a true embrace of diverse cultures as a part of our national identity. The vast majority of globally recognized black people in the last half century or so are Americans. (Ie. Jessie Owens, MLK and Malcolm, Oprah, Sachemo,both MJs, and Barak Obama to name a few). A young man like Julian might take note of these things when making a deeply personal decision about what flag to represent – a thought which makes me deeply proud to be an American.

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      • One thing I have kind of noticed is a number of the German American guys have tattoo’s. Jones is pretty much covered, Fabian and Willaims have sleeves and Boyd looks to be starting a sleeve. If you look at the German team they are pretty “clean cut” if you will. Also I remember a number of the guys did the blonde look at one point. I think the US set up or just Americans in general is more welcoming to being an individual and standing out while thats perhaps less apart of German culture. Does any of this effect Julian Green? I don’t know haha.

      • “I think the US set up or just Americans in general is more welcoming to being an individual and standing out while thats perhaps less apart of German culture”

        Players like Thomas Muller,Mario Goetze or Thomas Kroos don`t need tattoo`s to be recognized as individuals. They stand out because of the football skills they showcase on the pitch.

        Players like Jermaine Jones,Danny Williams or Terrence Boyd lack the individual brilliance of the aforementioned. Hence, they need to use other means to get recognized by the public.

        If you simply reduce football players to their hairstyles and tattoos s.o. like Jermaine Jones would outshine Messi. But in reality JJ is just an average football player while Messi is a genius.

      • I wasn’t trying to make any judgement on it was just something I noticed. Plenty of great footballers have tattoos or a walcky hairstyle, it really makes no different one way or anouther.

      • Well,these Afro-Germans grew up in a society where everyone has health insurance, single mothers are well supported by the state and where blacks are not likely to end up in jail.

        That`s a society many black Americans would arguably prefer to live in.

        According to Michelle Alexander, the United States “imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.”

    • One of our biggest possible strengths as a soccer nation is the ability to play a melting pot of possible styles and players more than any other country. If we could every learn to marry the organization and discipline of the Europeans with the athleticism of the African players and the skill and creativity of the Latins, that would surely be a beautiful thing to see.

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  4. Not their fault for capitalizing on our interest, and as he said there’s a lot of misinformation out there and this could set straight anybody that was getting ahead of themselves. He’s probably going to continue to go for Germany and if he gets stiffed by the time the next Euros come up, he’ll probably look to switch.

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  5. Pardon my ignorance but whats so great about julian green besides the fact that he is at bayern munich? I couldnt find a highlight of him and plus he looks physically average. Hoping he isnt a bust

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  6. I haven’t seen this kid play. Only things I know about him are what’s written on this website. With that said, does anyone believe he can help us out in this World Cup cycle? Is he more of a 2018 project? With qualifications done and only tune ups to the Brazil World Cup, would it be fair to choose him over people like Evans, Beckerman, Sascha, Gomez, Bedoya, Corona, Diskerud…?

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    • I doubt he’d be able to help us a ton, he’s got a lot of talent but is still young and a bit of a work in progress. If we brought him to the WC it would be for the sole purpose of tying him to the US. If he commits to us though he could have a huge part of the next cycle.

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    • Choose him over people like….
      Gomez, who’s been injured for a while with knee problems, maybe.
      Corona, who hasn’t been playing much in Liga MX, probably.
      Shea, who is eradic, probably.
      EJ/Boyd, who’s one dimentional, yes.
      Wondo, in a heart beat
      Basically he’s on par with our 4th striker options, but gives us greater flexability as he can play any of the 3 attacking midfield roles in a 4-2-3-1.

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  7. I haven’t seen him play (who has?) but I doubt he’s “good” since he doesn’t even play for Bayern. The fact that he makes their bench probably means he has potential.

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    • Probably fair comment you made.. but also fair to say, if you get one minute for Bayern in a Champions League game.. you are better right now than players 20 and up in our pool.

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      • I’m not sure that a couple of minutes in a meaningless game that Bayern had already won automatically makes him better than other players that play every week.
        Maybe he is better but we won’t know until he gets regular playing time.

  8. So let me make sure I get this right: he committed to the US, signed a contract with Jurgen, and will be a starter in Brazil right? Or do I need to read the article first before posting a comment? Standby.

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    • No no no no no …..

      He signed a contract ON Jurgen, he’s going to be committed in the US, and I’d make a joke about being one of the boys from Brazil, but that would be in spectacularly poor taste.

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  9. I’m sure he isn’t “committed” to the US or he would be actually playing in the Friendly….not just training.

    I don’t mind guaranteeing him a spot on the WC roster. He seems like a very promising player and who is he bumping? Kljestan? We’re not saying he is in the starting XI, he’s just “on the plane”.

    I could see why it would be attractive for him. I mean, Germany has a stacked midfield. The US has Bradley and a bunch of question marks.

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  10. Of course klinsmann wants Green to join the yanks but talk of Klinsi promising green a gueranteed spot on the US in brazil seem far fetched unless Klinsi is so wowed by Green in this camp that he feels like he has to make the promise. More than likely Klinsi will tell Green that he will have a great opportunity if he chooses the US to fulfill a dream of going to a World Cup.

    Overall it’s encouraging and I won’t be surprised if he chooses to file the switch.

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  11. Ssssssssssssslow progression, first time he kind of commits to camp then backs out, this time he kind of commits to camp and maybe shows up….but most certainly doesn’t commit to the team, no games, etc. Maybe we can get him to the soccer equivalent of first base sometime in 2015.

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  12. If Klinsy is going to convince Zelalem to ever play for the USMNT, he better do it soon. Once Zelalem plays in the Euro qualifying tournament in March for Germany, he can no longer represent the USA.

    At least once he plays for Germany in March the speculation can stop.

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    • Zelalem is gunna be hard. It’s far more complicated than Green. Green what he wants and it won’t change his club career.(Uli might be grumpy but who cares. He might be in jail in 2 years.)

      Zelalem has to worry about a country taking away his work permit.

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    • We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with US soccer but is zelalem a dual US and German national? If he’s only a German citizen then I think we can forget zelalem. Also what are the chances green and zelalem play for the US in brazil? That would be amazing to see and I can think of many bubble usmnt players that most fans wouldn’t be sad about being replaced by the youngsters. One can dream at least.

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      • I don’t think he’s actually an Ethiopian citizen is he? I know hes eligible for it but thought he only held German citizenship.

      • Citizenship is a weird thing. He is probably an Ethiopian citizen at birth based on his parents, but he may not have gone through the process to actually claim an Ethiopian passport. As long as that fits Ethiopian law, then FIFA considers him an Ethiopian citizen, even if he hasn’t done the paperwork.

      • You’re right, every country does things a bit differently. I know he could get it very easily but didn’t think he had gone through those steps yet. Regardless I think this will come down to Germany or US and Germany will probably get him. It is a shame because he could end up being a really good creative player, which is a position we struggle at.

    • can you elaborate? i’m assuming you mean for their youth team, which would only provisionally cap tie him (i doubt the full German team is calling up a 16 year old). he could still file a one-time switch or do something similar to what is happening with Green. can you explain why Zelalem would be locked if he played in an official youth tournament? FJ and Green both have yet one switched and the other is able to.

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      • My question is, does that only apply to official youth tournaments? Like those that would usually provisionally cap-tie? Or just any cap at all at any level?

      • Travis is right. Zelalem isn’t a US citizen yet and that matters if he plays in a youth competition. Fabian and Green were US citizens at birth, so they always had the choice to switch.

  13. i’m actually glad Ives wrote this. it needs to be well publicized that the Bild article was premature and that he is simply training for two days and nothing else. at the same time, i think he’s going to love the US camp. everyone always does. and even if that Bild article was jumping the gun, they still have a quote from Green stating that Klinsmann would seriously consider him for the World Cup. i can’t imagine Green would lie about that, but it is Google translate…

    either way, his interview with SI last month made it clear he is open to playing for the US but was focused on Bayern. so this seems like another step in the right direction.

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    • Good points. Of course, Klinsi also told Gooch’s manager that he was pretty much a shoo in for Brazil, so I’m not sure how much Klinsi’s words on these things actually matter.

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      • I am not kidding here, but how do we know for certain at this point he is not?? Gooch that is…

        I mean, this happens EVERY cycle. Fans and Would-Be Fans far and wide jump on the bandwagon (sometimes straight away after the US bows out of the previous Final) and others later in the game, and then at some point down the road WCQ re-commences and these new or passively interested old fans grow accustomed to so and so who is grinding it out for the Manager (whether it was Steve or Bruce or Bob or now JK) but in the end, some of these guys are just placeholders because en route to the World Cup, the manager is always going to take the best players, bar none and most cycles, there are one or two guys who are young (but highly talented) and come on strong late and “steal” a spot from one of the grinders… and there are some guys who are old (but savvy, experienced and even in old age more talented than the only other options… ahem Goodson) and then all the newb fans and the passive fans throw up their arms! “Hey what about my guy Goodson? He was SECOND STRING center back for the last two years!” well guess what… he’s not good enough no matter how hard he tries.

  14. Regarding Gedion Zelalem, according to the Guardian: “He not only sounds American, he considers himself to be American … Zelalem has a claim for a US passport.”

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    • Well then somebody better tell him to turn down the call from Germany because no matter how American he feels, he will be ineligible for the USMNT, as he will have become provisionally cap-tied to Germany without having USA citizenship at that time.

      Once you get provisionally cap-tied, you can only switch to countries that you have valid citizenship at the time you get cap-tied. (Which is why this is not an issue with Julian Green, he already had US citizenship when he got provisionally cap-tied to Germany).

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      • the provisional cap-tie only works if he plays for Germany in a FIFA Youth World Cup.

        Examples: Christian Gimenez was able to play for Mexico despite playing in South American qualifiers as a youth before having Mexican citizenship.
        Rubens Sambueza on the other hand was denied by FIFA to play for Mexico because he played for Argentina in a U-17 World Cup without having Mexican citizenship at the time.

        On a side note, Sambueza is appealing on the basis that he was underage and the choice was made by his parents (blah, blah I know). But in the unlikely case the appeal is granted, it’d set a precedent for a hypothetical appeal by Zelalem in the event he plays the u-20 WC for Germany withiut American citizenship. He has at least ties to the country, while Sambueza didn’t at that time.

      • Good find, I’ve seen the March cap tie thing all over the place including in news outlets but it seem like you are right that the youth qualifiers don’t matter just the actual tournament.

    • “Claims for a US passport” doesn’t really mean anything. To acquire it (assuming his dad goes through all the proper steps) would really cause problems with his German citizenship which is why he can be in the UK in the first place.

      He’ll go ahead and play for Germany U19s next month and we will watch his career with wonder and thoughts of “what might have been.”

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    • Timing is crucial… when could the paperwork get done, could it be before the World Cup? If not, is Green just using this to earn a call-up to Germany? If this isn’t settled before the World Cup then there is no real rush unless he wants to play in a early Euro’s qualifier late this year.

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      • Before the WC? Easily. It only took only about 2 weeks for Johannsson’s switch to be approved. Since UEFA keeps good records, it shouldn’t take long for Julian’s to be approved, once it comes to that.

      • In 2014, with Skype, faxes and scanners, and so on, it should take about a day at most to complete the application. Anything longer than two days is relying on antiquated technology when we’re in the information age.

      • Why are people worried about whether or not it even happens this year? You think he’s going to Brazil? Do you guys actually want this kid in Brazil? It makes no sense. If things go well and he leans towards the US – Keep in Mind if he plays well for Bayern in first team matches then Germany will basically HAVE to call him up – then we can maybe look forward to possibly a Gold Cup call up or 2018, maybe even summer olympics. Julian Green is not playing for USA in Brazil, how do people think that even makes sense?

      • did you miss what Green said:

        “For me, it’s an honor and an unbelievable chance. I could play for the U.S. and perhaps go with them to the World Cup. It can’t get any better than that, and I’m very thankful for the trust in me.”

        clearly this is a long-term play by Klinsmann. basically telling Green that if he commits to the US, the US will commit to him. and while he may not play much, if at all, bringing him to Brazil would show him Klinsmann is serious. that way they don’t have to battle with Germany after the World Cup.

        not saying it’s the right thing to do or not, but it’s that quote that has people saying what they are.

  15. How long does it take for the one-time switch paperwork to go through?

    Was it Jermaine Jones that did it and it took several months if I remember right?

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    • Early days, it took 2-3 months to approve. The Johannsson was done in less than a month. As long as the paperwork is complete and the federations have good records, it should take about a month to do.

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