FC Dallas defender George John will accompany the Greek national team for its friendly against Ecuador at Citi Field in New York on June 7.
John, 24, is a second-generation Greek-American, is eligible to represent both the United States and Greece and he is uncapped by both countries. An injury ruled out his participation in Bob Bradley's January training camp.
John is enjoying a strong season with FC Dallas and has been an integral part of the club's current run of five consecutive clean sheets. He will reportedly not be on Greece's roster for the match against Ecuador, but he will train with the team ahead of the friendly.
What do you think of John training with Greece? Do you think John is U.S.-national-team caliber? Worried that he might choose to play for Greece?
Share your thoughts below.
“”….did not see anyone say that John should have been called in.”””
I’ve been posting that George John (and Le Teux) should be called in everytime I post in a thread here, wtf are you talking about. You just don’t read through these threads whenever the Nats convene, cause that’s when I’ve been mentioning him (along with the fact that BB/Mikey have to go, and it won’t be long now!)
“”Dempsey didn’t go through the camps if I recall.””
The exception proves the rule, or didn’t you study maths?
“”It’s funny to hear people complain about Onyewu’s lack of pace, only to talk up John, who also lacks that very quality.””
That’s funny because George John is as fast Landon Donovan, I’ve not seen a centerback anywhere who can get out to the wings as quick as this guy, and, how many 6’2″ centerbacks do we have anyways?
My 4 centerbacks for the Gold Cup would be: George John, Ream, Goodson and JD (DeMerit, for experience) and that’s it, have a go. But, BB has always been an evil man, now he is bordering on criminality with his selections and the substituting of my man Rico Clark against Ghana still makes my blood boil (dude did nothing wrong, Mikey handcuffed him with that “pass” in the middle of the park with a couple quick Blackstars around him).
Chandler being excluded conspiracy theories again? *facepalm*
George goes to my church in Dallas and is a great guy. He deserves a shot and as a Greek-American myself I will be rooting for him especially if he puts on the Blue and White!!!
Dempsey didn’t go through the camps if I recall.
2nd generation Greek?lol I find that funny. The Greeks can have him, shoot, they can have EJ,Rogers,Casey,Borns, and Finley if that’s possible! Will trade all 5 of them for some good ole GYROS!
I agree 100% with you. I read most the comments(not all) when the gold cup roster came out, and did not see anyone say that John should have been called in. Now all of a sudden the Greek team calls him in to train and he should of had a spot over Gooch? I hope John is part of the USMNT pool for the next cycle but some of this just seems to be a little much
You all are workaholics
He’s the best, young US CB imo. Ream has more potential, but John is the best right now.
There are certainly exceptions to this- Ream & Wondolowski come to mind. Are there others?
Hate to lose any players (potentially), especially since one thinks of the US (theoretically) as a nation of immigrants who are proud of their descent, but American first.
Nevertheless the US certainly isn’t devoid of promising upcoming center backs… Tim Ream, Omar Gonzalez, Gale Agbossoumonde, Ike Opara and Perry Kitchen spring to mind.
Bradley could have used the Kjlestan and Bornstein slots to call in John and Chandler. For me, that’s a no brainer. Hopefully we don’t lose these talented players for Bob’s friendships.
Where’re my call ups to the Polish, Irish and French national teams?!
I don’t know enough about the current Greek squad to make the “US is better” call, but I do know their 2010 WC squad was elderly and flopped
“all seems even stranger. ”
Why?
If he is good enough to play for Greece and wants to, they are a fine team. There will be plenty of CB competition in the coming year or two for the US. John is hardly a lock to make the 2014 USMNT.
I don’t know if Greece has so many CB prospects with his physical credentials.
A pro soccer career has only so many years in it and if this will help boost his European prospects, he’d be out of his mind if he did not take advantage of it.
However, I doubt this really amounts to much.
It’s like Freddy Adu training with Manchester United.
Prediction: Gooch will not be on the team for the WC qualifications next year. Nor will Bob Bradley be the head coach.
Gooch is too slow now and and our Gold Cup team will disappoint.
THe problem with USMNT is that they rarely select people who do not come from the US Camps as kids. For players like George John who continue to get better at every level this system does not work. If you are not selected when you are 15 years old to go to the US Camp then it is difficult to get noticed by the National team. Donovan, Beasly etc start early on and rise through the program. They are the best players in this system adn thus got the recognition. But US soccer exludes so many people because they want kids from the US Camp to show that it works.
Now He is better then hooch
The UK has a one generation born abroad limit, so unless your mom was born in Scotland you don’t qualify for British citizenship, thus you can’t play for the Scottish team (my mom’s a 1st generation American of Scottish decent, so I have researched this). Other countries (such as Italy, Germany, France, and Greece) do not have a limit, so they can pass on the citizenship indefinitely. Ireland doesn’t have a generation limit, but children born abroad to parents born abroad must be entered in the Foreign Births Register to be citizens.
lol…jbieber69
You also have to be good
If it was xenophobia it would apply equally to mexico and Greece. Still, calling it xenophobic absolves all the english speaking Mexican fans who constantly bash the USA players of any part in anti- Mexican postings.
He’s already a Greek citizen:
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/george-john/profil/spieler_105985.html
Post of the day!
We could use some kind of counterpart to the Adu thing — maybe “xenophobic response time”? — for these threads. This one got farther than most (corroborating your point a bit, actually).
“Second-generation?! so I’m assuming this means anyone can basically play for any national team.”
Yeah.
If they actually are citizens of that other nation, like John is. Just a minor detail, I realize, but maybe worth including in your characterization, there, nevertheless…
Fair points but John does indeed have good pace. Inexperience with the team is the only legit reason for not selecting John
I think it works like this in Greece, His grandparents were born in Greece making them citizens. Then that mad his dad a citizen because his parents had this citizenship. Then he could apply to carry on the citizenship to himself.
To read some of these posts, you would think that the future of the USMNT is tied completely to whether GJ wants to represent Greece or the US. Good for him if this gets him noticed or advances his career in any way. But to say he should have been called into the Gold Cup roster ahead of Gooch is, I think, a little unfair. First off, he has had no time in the MNT setup and therefore isn’t familiar with a good portion of the team, or even how they do things (training, tactics, chemistry even). I’m all about giving new guys a shot, but this Gold Cup, with a Confederations Cup berth on the line, is not the time to experiment. Next Gold Cup, yes. Definitely. And second, while he is a very good MLS central defender, that by no means is a guarantee to translate to the international level. It’s funny to hear people complain about Onyewu’s lack of pace, only to talk up John, who also lacks that very quality. GJ could turn out o be a better player than Gooch, but is he really ahead of him right now, especially considering Gooch’s familiarity with the team, the system, etc? I don’t personally think so. Even if John decides to go with Greece, I think we’ll be ok people. Just remember that we still have Opara, Ream, Gonzalez, Agboussomonde (sic?), etc.
This is really too bad. John is pretty excellent for FC Dallas, and I think he’s in the same category as Tim Ream or Omar Gonzalez or Ike Opara for quality young American centerbacks in MLS.
I think Gooch is shot. He was slotted to be our stud for years. Now he looks like and has looked like he is limping all the time, looks like he is uncomfortable on the ball and looks uncomfortable marking anybody with any speed at all.Soccer does not allow for a designated header who can be sent in everytime there is a corner and then subbed out. Any of the better of our young MLS central defenders including John is a better risk than Gooch for the intermediate period.
Defense is not USA’s problem
eurodouche
International friendly being played at citi field in queens!? Cosmos take a hint!
+1: Additionally, there is a 2% chance that Gooch is on the roster for the next World Cup (and even less if Bradley isn’t the coach), so it’s time to move on and find the next guys to lead the USMNT at CB.
Actually, I watched him during his career at the dub and just saw him against the Sounders this week. He lacks that explosive quickness that you’ve love to have, but covers that with great anticipation and a clear understanding of defensive fundamentals. But he is QUITE fast, when he gets his legs under him.