It sounded like music to the ears of some U.S. national team fans when Leeds United midfielder Bradley Johnson stated in a recent interview with SkySports.com that he wanted to play for the United States. Unfortunately for Johnson and U.S. fans, he can't play for the USA any time soon.
Johnson (pictured, left) is not a U.S. citizen and is not close to becoming a U.S. citizen, and therefore is not close to becoming a U.S. national team player, a source with knowldge of Johnson's status told SBI on Wednesday.
Johnson was under the impression that he was eligible to play for the United States because he has an American grandfather, but at present that status will bring him no closer to gaining American citizenship. In Europe, having a grandparent of a certain descent would be enough to secure citizenship and a passport from a variety of countries (as American goalkeeper Dom Cervi did in securing an Italian passport to help him sign with Celtic).
So at present, Johnson is not eligible to play for the United States any time soon. That is, unless he pulled a David Regis and found an American to marry, but even then he would have to wait three years.
What do you think of this news? Disappointed Johnson can't play for the United States? Still wondering where the wing midfield depth will come from for the U.S. team?
Share your thoughts below.
He’s a good left sided player, still a bit raw but athletic, great header of a ball, quick and has a hell of a shot on him. He has six goals to his name this season already which from midfield, is a good tally. 22 years of age, linked with several clubs in the Prem and Championship this summer. Not saying he is ultimately better than the options that the US have on the left, but you can do a lot worse. Leeds are on the up and it is felt that this lad has the talent to help take us there.
He never said he was switching but he did say if a better federation came asking (and that could be either argentina, from his parents, or italy) he would go there first…
So the guy contributes for a formerly illustrious club that now plays in the 3rd tier of English football…
I’ll admit I haven’t seen him play. If he is talented, bring him in. We need to be trying out anyone who shows promise, especially if he plays on the left.
In the US, you cannot get citizenship through a grandparent. The ways to be a citizen is 1-must be born in the US (or US possession, like Puerto Rico) 2-One parent must be american 3-marry an american. citizenship is not transferable in the US. If you are born in a foreign country, only the american parent can apply for a US passport for the child. The child can live abroad forever but cannot pass citizenship to his child….When I saw that he was interested, I thought it could be cool, but when I read further that his grandfather was American then I knew he would be out…so not surprised….
its leeds united who is probably compared to a team like San Jose in MLS
if he is their best player then it is worth while to have in pool, but i dont like otherwise
WHO IN THE WORLD SAID EMILIO!?!
HE IS AWFUL!!
he looses the ball so much….all of the current US strikers are much better
he is no where near where he was when he first came to MLS….his DP tag should be taken away next season maybe even waived…he is nowhere near worth the money
Anyways…..this guy would be totally pointless to talk about
this shows you how alot of europeans view USsoccer and MLS, hey i think i would be good enough to be a star on their team…their rubbish…..i cant believe this guy would even try it
LD on left is a million times better i believe
How is Bob Bradley a nightmare?
I don’t think it hurts to add him to the pool. If he can’t get citizenship then it’s no big deal, and we shouldn’t worry about it even if he gets big. I also think it’s pretty funny how he’s written off so quickly when there are people out there who think Mikey Grella needs to be capped.
How has he already fallen off? What do you mean by that?
he can marry my sister, but he will have to shave her mustage and trim her goatee.
I’m disappointed. Maybe he would have helped, maybe he wouldn’t. I think discounting him simply because he’s in the 3rd division is foolhardy, however.
If we’re going to take a low-tier American in the UK I’d much rather see Jemal Johnson. Who knows, maybe could be a raw, version of Beaz in his better days.
Because Leeds is a club with a rich history, that has both the resources and the actual opportunity to move back up the chain. For the same reason Newcastle has a decent team, Leeds is going to have some of the best 1st Div players, which would make the some of the best MLS players. At 22, that’s pretty good.
Alot of MLS teams would do OK in League one. I’m sure the better teams would battle for playoff spots if not promotion the next level would hang around midtable and the bottom teams would fight to stay up and one or two would lose that fight
With a name like Bradley Johnson, he already sounds like a combination of US nightmares. Bradley (as in coach Bradley, and Johnson as in Eddie Johnson). Think about all the confusion! lol
I’m not as cavalier as some saying we shouldn’t waste time on the guy. If there is mutual interest between the player and the US Fed, start getting the guy into some program to get his citizenship. He may end up helping in the next round of qualifying for 2014 or beyond since he’s still a young guy. And Ives is right, not exactly a bunch of options on the left due to Beasley and Convey taking nose dives due to injuries, and Donovan. Hopefully some of the younger guys like Rogers can play to their potential to ensure we have some depth.
Can you tell me where you’re getting this Lletget information? I’ve not seen anything that suggests he’s switching federations.
Haters…
I’ll welcome any player to the USMNT so long as they are dedicated.
How is someone playing at a club such as Leeds going to be better than someone playing here in MLS? He’s just trying to find his way on to a national team any way he can. I don’t blame him for trying to join the USMNT because everyone wants to play in the World Cup and he’ll never play for England. He’s just trying to pull what Sebastain Lletget is doing to play for Italy.
Many of these “he’s just 3rd division England” comments are ridiculous. If you had an MLS player who was 22 and playing with the skills this guy has, you’d be all pissing yourselves. Since MLS more or less plays at the 3rd tier level, you’re basically looking at a young, talented MLS kid with a ton of upside. Whose club, by the way, is able to move to higher divisions, unlike here in the states.
One less Bradley, thank you.
Maybe he should start trying to get US citizenship now so he could be a POTENTIAL option in 2014. I never considered the possibility of him playing in 2010 but by 2014 he should be in his prime and if he sticks with Leeds, he may be in the prem (they’ll probably be in the championship next year and who knows what can happen to that club over the following 3 years). If he’s not good enough, oh well. Its not like he has a real chance of ever playing for England.
Where exactly do people think Premiership teams sign players from? Oh, right, from teams in lower divisions or other leagues. Having eligible up-and-comers playing very well in competitive leagues is never a bad thing, particularly when they’re American. Or, unfortunately, kind of American in this case.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Lets focus on guys who can actually represent the USA like Pittman and Grella.
I think that 95 percent of the people on this site are missing to point. Is he going to come in and start right away? No. But he’s obviously talented and he’s 22 years old. It can never hurt to add a player like this to your national pool Who knows, maybe he can develop greatly in the next 3 years. How many 22 year olds do we have in our national pool that would start for Leeds on a regular basis right now. 10? The fact is that is this a major blow to our national pool? No. But it could never hurt to add him.
Nobody cares about this guy. And is wing midfield depth really a problem? Donovan, Dempsey, Torres, Holden, Rogers can all play on the wing.
Oh man, we can’t get the services of a winger playing in the 3rd division of England. Oh well.
i guess no one realizes he plays left back!!!
which everyone will agree is a big need position. And he is only 22 working his way up in eng he had many options from championship clubs then signed wit leeds can;t blame him its such a storied club even if its on a downside.
Yeah, because this guy would break into a line-up that includes Jones, Edu, Bradley, Holden, Dempsey, Donovan, Rico Clark, Klejstian, etc, etc, etc.
It’s nice that he wanted to play for the U.S. but playing in Europe no longer automatically qualifies you as a legit candidate to play for the USMNT. We’re deeper than that now.
Maybe he should try Canada?
I guess it’s a slow news period. Let’s face it, Americans in Europe aren’t exactly tearing things up. Dempsey’s playing quality soccer, but that’s about it. Bradley scored a great goal, but his touch looked woeful. Then….. crickets.
May as well run a story about the possibility of Fabian Johnson playing for the US. Apparently he stunk it up for Wolfsburg in his last match played, but he’s young, talented enough to play Germany U21 and has a US passport. And he can play left back (is apparently completely two-footed.)Better try to get him before Loew does.
I agree with a lot of people here. Who the heck is Bradley Johnson??
Who??? I don’t think a 3rd tier English player is exactly what we need. I also don’t think we’re that thin in the midfield. I’m much more concerned about the back line, especially with Oneywu out for 3-4 months, and our ongoing left back problems. Next…
Never really hear of him, but if we are to take someone from Leeds, I’d rather take Mike Grella. And IF he is as good of a left winger as Ives says he is, why is he not playing in the EPL? just out of curiosity does the English MNT call any players playing in the league one? or coca-cola championship for that matter?…Nontheless I think still sucks that USA doesn’t do what Europe does to secure players, that’s why we’re losing U17 standout Sebastain Lletget to Italy, because of his Italian Grandfather.
Well, it looks like he plays so well with his first club that he was heavily recruited by several championship teams. Getting him to got to Leeds was a big win for the club. He’s reasonably young, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t continue to move up the food chain in England. He’s definitely rated better than an above-average League One winger tho, so i don’t see why he wouldn’t be a good prospect for the team, like rogers.
I’m with the rest of you guys. I can’t say I was too excited when I first heard he wanted to play with for us. I’m sorry but I’ll take Robbie Rogers and an out of form Beasley before I would give him a cap. Getting excited for him playing for the Nats is almost like saying the English 3rd division is better than MLS. Now I know MLS is far from the Premier League but I’d like to say our level of play is better than any third division side in the world. He plays left mid, right? Right now that spot is Landon’s and there is no way he’s going to unseat DonoMAN. After that We have Rogers, Beasley and Dempsey can play there too. I highly doubt he would even make our bench.
I’m interested in adding to our pool wherever the rules apply. If only to push others and see other options.
What are the eligibility rules for the US? And others.. Each of my son’s grandparents were born in a different country (US, Peru, Spain, Greece) I had the idea he could pick from them all if he wanted to..after the US of course.. 😛 Is that right?
I love delusional American fans. I bet you all think that every MLS team would dominate League 1 as well. Apparently you all forget how technically flawed 99% of all home grown US players are.
wow.
This is a non-issue. He’s English 3rd Division and it isn’t 1990.
It’s nice that he is interested in playing for the US. I thank him for his interest and wish him all the best…
Who? I know the US isn’t in the top tier of international teams, but just because this guy is “foreign” doesn’t mean he’s better than our starting XI or even would get a call up.
think^
Ives,
If you honestly, truly believe that a 3rd division English player is the answer to our left wing depth problems than must not much of our National Team… you resist automatically plugging in Jermain Jones, a top-flight player in Bundesliga, recognized as one of the best defensive midfielders in the league- yet excited about calling up a 3rd division player?
(SBI-Who was excited? When the story first came out there were plenty of U.S. fans interested in the story, so we followed it. He’s a quality starter on the top team in League One, is just 22, and for a moment it looked like he might be able to play for the USA. Nobody was penciling him in for the 2010 World Cup but to say “No, he wouldn’t have been a factor in the poor, now or ever, is a bit much. There are never too many good players to choose from and while you may think think League One is USL level, it isn’t. Oh, and who is “resisting” automatically plugging in Jermaine Jones? I’m a big believer in Jones’ abilities, and we’ve covered every step of Jones’ move to the U.S. team, so I don’t even get where you were coming from with that statement.)
IVES – I would love to see a list of possible gems that are still out there. who they are, where they play…
What about a player like Emilio who gets a green card for permanant residency. I know the MLS no longer counts him towards a foriegn player cap, but is a green card enough to make you eligible for a national team?
(SBI-No, you need full citizenship, so Emilio is half-way there, but of course he’s already fallen off.)
like we need another mid
(SBI-He’s playing very well as a left winger for Leeds, and last time I checked left wing depth is on the list of USMNT needs.)
Leeds in in League One. The third division in England. So I’ll assume he’s not that great. We have better players, playing in better leagues. Right?
nobody over here can honestly claim they know who this guy is before this article….
I’m sorry, but why was his interest music to our ears? Because he’s English? Why are we so desperate that we’d be fiending for a player on a League One team? What happened to our self-respect? Jermaine Jones, I understand. Bradley Johnson? No.
im not losing sleep over an English 3rd division player