There was plenty of speculation about whether Timmy Chandler's decision to skip the CONCACAF Gold Cup was evidence of the German-born player's potential desire to play for Germany and give up his recent allegiance to the United States.
Chandler shot that down in a recent interview, telling Yanks Abroad he has every intention of playing for the United States, and no desire to represent Germany, where he was born.
The son of an American serviceman father and German mother, Chandler made his U.S. national team debut last March, thoroughly impressing with his speed and skill on the right flank. He passed on playing in the Gold Cup, citing injury concerns and fatigue from having just come off the busiest season of his young career, which led to some speculation that he might be holding out to play for Germany.
Chandler dismissed that notion.
"No. That is absolutely not the reason why I missed the Gold Cup," Chandler told Yanks Abroad after being asked whether a desire to play for Germany kept him out of the summer event. "It is my goal and dream to represent the United States at the 2014 World Cup. What I said in March is true. I will absolutely not play for Germany. There is no way that will happen."
Here are some other stories to get your Tuesday going:
REAL MADRID SIGNS COENTRAO
Jose Mourinho's quest to build a team capable of beating Barcelona took another step forward on Monday, with Real Madrid announcing the signing of highly-rated Portuguese fullback Fabio Coentrao.
A star at Benfica who has rapidly become one of the best attacking fullbacks in the game, Coentrao joins on a 30 million Euro transfer, joining Nuri Sahin and Hamit Altintop as Real Madrid's top summer signings so far.
CHILE TOPS MEXICO, PERU TIES URUGUAY IN COPA
Mexico's young Copa America squad looked poised to pull off an upset when it took a 1-0 lead on highly-favored Chile, but the South Americans responded with a pair of goals to post a 2-1 win in their opening Copa America match.
Monday's Copa America action also saw Peru tie Uruguay, 1-1, with Paulo Guerrero and Luis Suarez scoring the goals.
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What do you think of these developments? Glad to hear Chandler is sticking with the United States? Like the Coentrao signing for Real Madrid? Surprised Peru was able to tie Uruguay? Enjoy watching Mexico blow a lead?
Share your thoughts below.
Hahaha +1
This is funny.
i’m not even going to bother with a “somene gets a boner over Klinsmann as NATS coach” time…..
yeah I’m hoping it catches on. that and a “Junior Bradley only starts cause” time
gr, “and that Madrid doesn’t just buy players even if they don’t need them”
agree about Barca buying players so Madrid can’t. Alves stated Barca should get Neymar simply so that Madrid can’t. haha
I’m sure that happens both ways though.
I put that slightly ahead of the massive dip Germany took after Klinsmann left, the piles of trophies he won while managing Bayern, and the brilliant turn-around he’s orchestrated since moving to Toronto.
Oh wait…
right, im not disputing that. im simply pointing out that Barca doesn’t just buy players because they need to fill a void and that Madrid only buys players even if they don’t need them. specifically, i wanted to point out that this acquisition by Madrid was absolutely needed and decided to make reference to the cesc and sanchez saga as proof Barca does buy up players despite having no need for them. i’m not saying Barca does it more than Madrid, or even at the same pace as Madrid, but they both do it.
Also, if you’ll count Pique as a La Masia guy, then you can just as easily count Fabregas since they both started there, then went to England.
Ramos is from Sevilla. He won his first cap while playing with them.
The cultural ties are strong.
In their XI*
Maybe in this instance. However, correct me if I’m wrong, but the following starters for Barca that developed in the La Maisa academy are as follows:
Messi, Pique, Sergi B, Puyol, Victor Valdes, Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro.
I might be leaving some out, and I might not be 100% accurate, but this has always been my basis for choosing Barca over Madrid. Madrid, I believe, have developed Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas. Everyone else in their X is bought. That = WAY MORE Yankees than Barca.
I might even go so far as to speculate that Barca is after these highly rated guys just so that Madrid doesn’t get them, since they have the money anyway. To an extent, I feel like this might be why ManU bought Ashley Young (plus Cup games + resting dudes during UCL-heavy stretches).
What about Daniel Williams at Freiburg? Any news on him?
Given that we could potentially have three native German speakers in the lineup in 2014, it’s yet another argument for Klinsmann…
In my opinion, Marcelo is vastly underrated. He is part of a lot of important plays for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jose finds a way to get both Coentrao and Marcelo on the field. I hate Marcelo as a player but I think he’s worth a lot to that team.
Arbeloa, however, I don’t rate nearly as high.
this is a much more interesting stat than “Adu time” with is so 2010!
oh, and more importantly, excellent news about Chandler!
I thought maybe Tony meant to say he was a coffee drink, kind of like JFK said he was a doughnut.
good signing by Madrid. they needed some cover at fullback. I’m aslo excited for Rachael Varane, young, but could have a very bright future. i’m still confused as to why we picked up Callejon though. I guess that means Leon is absolutely leaving. Not that Callejon will play much anyway.
The USMNT is in a transition phase, not a rut. With young guns like Bradley, Holden, Jozy, Chandler, Agudelo, and the wealth of U-20 players in top European professional systems, I am confident for the future.
are you kidding me?! Barca is hunting Cesc and Sanchez. do they need a playmaker and winger?! NO. Madrid absolutely needs a full back. There is hardly any depth in that position.
exactly. Ramos will move to CB most likely.
Don’t you mean nothing more American than blowing a lead?
Well I hope that’s true, but I fear that many USMNT fans will be all for him until until he has a flat game, the it’s gonna be “HE SUX! FIRE BOB”
Fire Bob Bradley time: 1 hour 36 minutes.
Nothing more American than watching Mexico blow a lead on the 4th.
Just make sure you do it properly: Ich bin Amerikaner
Ramos is slated to move to centerback. Coentrao is also much better than Marcelo or Arbeloa.
No, he was invited to train with them. Originally he accepted the invite; however, due to a knock he picked up in the Sounders game he wasn’t able to train with Greece. He’s still eligible for the U.S. or for Greece.
They invited him to train with them while they were in the states. He didn’t even suit up for a game.
Haha I love this! I think USMNT fans may need to make some shirts/signs with this since we seem to have a influx of German players. Make them feel at home a little more!
Didn’t George John decide to play for Greece?
Where is Zack Loyd and George John? These guys perform very solid game in and out at club level. Sure they are in the MLS and not some huge club but surely they are worth a call up and get a look over at a few practices perhaps even some friendly play?
Chandler: “Ich bin ein Americano”
There is much rejoicing….
Seriously who DOSENT like Timmy Chan!
…. And yes. I was VERY happy to see Mex go down!
I f’in love him.
Love the Chandler move. I really wish we could have had him for the Gold Cup so it would have been him or Lichaj coming off the bench against Mexico, but it might not have secured the win anyways.
As for Real Madrid, I hope they spend Man City money and still fail. Never been a fan of the yankees. I don’t like Barca or ManU but I at least have some respect for them since they stick with their core and use big transfers for weak spots on the roster.
great news on Chandler!!!
And he’s the perfect type of athlete to come up that right side in the 4-2-3-1. Awesome.
$200 million and your wife and kids.
Wish the Chandler story could have come out on the 4th. The kid might be the best athlete in the entire USMNT player pool. This is awesome news. I love how passionate he was when he responded to the question.
While I would dispute his claim, he left out one letter and you’re criticizing his language skills?
Like you and the English language, eh?
well we have 3 years to figure that out.
The US National Team is in a rut. It has the players to beat Mexico if properly managed. So get a new coach. The Mexican have Bob Bradley all figured out.
seriously though, this is great news for 2014, taking some pressure off of Lichaj and giving us some sorely needed depth. Now all we need is for Ream and Goodson to get their act a little more straight and for Gooch to find his from and we’d actually would have a solid backline corps with some (dare I say it) depth. I don’t know if Boca and Cherundolo will make it to 2014, but with them in the mix for qualifying it’s a great help.
The other big question marks for me are:
where is Parkhurst in the depth chart?
what happens to Spector?
are MLS folks like Gonzalez and Wynne?
will Edu or Clark going to been seen as CB options?
Chandler says “HAH! ZAT SHOOOOD SHUT YOOO BEEEEEETCHIS UP FOR A BIT, YAAAAA????”
Chandler news is a ray of light amid the recent persistent gloom for USA fans. Now if only we can get him some clenbuterol-tainted meat, then maybe he can keep up with Guardado and Gio, ha ha.
Coentrao – Fullback? Do they need a fullback? Does he play ahead of Ramos or Marcelo?
Better said how much is Messi worth as a tranfer?
Just a thought. if (and this is a huge if) Barcelona sold Messi to Real Madrid, How much would it cost. I could see Barcelona asking for 150 million euros and maye see real madrid paying it.