Another U.S.-eligible left back is testing the waters for another country.
Blackburn defender Adam Henley, 17, will represent Wales in its Under-21 European championship qualifier against Andorra on Wednesday, marking the second youth international with U.S. eligibility to accept a call-up for another country in the last few weeks. West Ham left back Daniel Potts will play for England's U-18 side in a friendly against Poland on March 7.
Henley, born in Tennessee to a Welsh mother, has been a revelation for Blackburn this season, earning a starting role for the struggling Premier League side, for whom he signed a contract back in December through the 2013-14 season. He has previously played for the Wales U-19 squad but maintains eligibility for both England and the United States as well. He has never been a part of the U.S. set-up.
Here are a few more stories to keep your day going:
TEVEZ PLAYS FOR CITY RESERVES
Carlos Tevez is making his Manchester City comeback from the ground floor up.
The much-maligned Argentine striker played the opening 45 minutes for the City reserves in a 3-1 loss to Preston North End, marking his first on-field action for the club since a Carling Cup match against Birmingham City back in September.
Tevez refused to come off the bench in a UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich the following week, setting off a five-month saga that had him fined, suspended and linked to transfers to teams around the globe. He ultimately returned to City, apologized for his actions and withdrew his fine appeals and has embarked on the road to regaining his place in manager Roberto Mancini's first team.
JOHNSON DROPS OUT OF ENGLAND SQUAD
Much like the United States, England's national team is having an injury crisis ahead of a high-profile friendly.
Liverpool defender Glen Johnson became the fifth member of the original roster for Wednesday's match against the Netherlands to pull out of the squad, doing so because of an unspecified injury.
Johnson joins Wayne Rooney, Darren Bent, Kyle Walker and Tom Cleverley as players to miss out on the friendly after initially being called in. Manchester City's Joleon Lescott has replaced Johnson on the roster for England.
SERBIA TOPS ARMENIA IN FRIENDLY
Wednesday marks a full slate of international friendlies, but there is some international action going on Tuesday as well.
Serbia defeated Armenia, 2-0, with Serbian-American centerback Neven Subotic starting and playing 78 minutes for Serbia. Stuttgart midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic scored in the first half to lead the Serbians to victory.
Former Real Salt Lake striker Yura Movsisyan did not suit up for Armenia, which called in a large roster for a pair of matches on back-to-back days. Movsisyan is expected to be play in Armenia's friendly against Canada in Cyprus on Wednesday.
In other friendly action on Tuesday, Brazil plays Bosnia & Herzegovina at 2 p.m. (GOLTV).
—————————-
What do you think about Henley representing Wales? Like the idea of Tevez playing with the reserves? Think England has a shot against the Netherlands? Which non U.S.-Italy friendlies are you looking forward to catching?
Share your thoughts below.
“current England international Owen Hargreaves”
lol
CAP ALL THE LEFT BACKS!!
No seriously, do it.
Nothing he says ever makes any sense. Typepad needs an “ignore user” option.
Did you ever go out with a chick for the hell if it and realize she is much better than you thought?
And you can quote me on this, Daniel Potts will never play for England’s Senior team. Bank on it…
Soooo, what he is trying to tell everyone is that he never wants to play in a World Cup……
I can take it GW, I love all the debating. Ives should be thanking me I am giving him more comments on his stories cause people are mad cause I said Ream and Bedoya suck, lol.
This is the first time I have ever seen you post. Thank you, for giving me your time replying back to my comment. Your comment made no sense neither.
I am sure those bashing the south lived there, right?
Have you ever lived there?
Take some time and research the qualifying groups Wales have had over the years to get through to qualify for the World Cup.
I’m not sure the US could have done much better than them.
In fact, I’m certain if they had been in CONCACAF all these years they would have qualified as often as the US.
Henley has said his best position is right back.
“Henley will have a better international career with the US, ”
You are taking a lot for granted with that statement.
“this is America so I can state my opinion if I want to.”
True, but it also means people are allowed to answer you back or treat you any way they like and in just about any fashion they want as long as it is legal.
That is the flip side of the first amendment most people forget about.
If you can’t take it,don’t dish it out.
MicahK sucks. Yeah, you’re right. That’s kinda fun.
I bet you are from the North right ?
+1
As much as I hate the south, Knoxville is a college town and I doubt anyone from there would have too many bad things to say about it.
Go Vols!
Because, it was funny and true.
You all need to get off of my jock. Everyone on the forums wants to be butt hurt just cause I said Bedoya and Ream suck. Also, everyone has an opinion and this is America so I can state my opinion if I want to.
Wikipedia:
“There are sometimes issues about which team players are eligible for (as all the players will have simply British passports), but a player is generally eligible for whichever nation he, his parents or grandparents were born in (in the case of these being different nations, then he can choose). This has been the case with some younger players such as Aiden McGeady and Jack Collison who have chosen to play for the country of their parental heritage rather than the country of their birth. Players from crown dependencies (like the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), which are technically not in the UK are eligible for all four teams (e.g. Matt Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux, both of whom opted for England), as are British citizens born outside the UK or its possessions (e.g. current England international Owen Hargreaves, born in Canada).”
I think this only has the status of a gentlemen’s agreement among the Home Nations, though.
Henley is keeping his options open he stated in an interview. He is not going to play any cap-tying matches in the near future given the fact that he’s 17. Let him play in the Wales youth setup all he likes but you’ve got to believe in this day and age that if he’s not being courted by the English by a certain age then the desire to play meaningful (read: WC) matches will make the US an attractive option. If he does choose to play for Wales, no love lost and I wish him all the best for both club and country.
Is there a genius on here that can answer a question for me? Since Wales is not a sovereign nation, I assume all native Welsh people are citizens of the UK. England is not a sovereign nation either, therefore all native English people are citizens of the UK? Same logic for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
How does one choose which country they play for and prove “citizenship.” Can a person from any of the four nations choose any of the four? Could a guy like Henley say he’d like to play for Northern Ireland for example or Potts for Scotland?
I’d say it would be hard to count on fond memories of Knoxville, TN to convince Henley of playing for the USMNT.
Not Preston Zimmerman apparently, they guy who claims MLS is overlooked and blah blah blah yet he’s in the 3rd level of German soccer himself when he could maybe try to hack it and be a starter for a team in MLS, but you know that doesn’t him an elitist or hypocrite or anything….I”m sure there’s a reason why him snubbing MLS to come back and play and maybe contribute to the league is not looked down upon when he sucks in lower tiers in Europe as opposed to some kids with German roots being called in
Somehow it really bugs me that MLS teams aren’t getting them to see if they can start soon, they been training professionally so how do they expect them to get better?
OK, we’re seeing a trend. MicahK’s comments either make no sense, qare way off base or are troll worthy. Why not take your brilliance over to big soccer.com and leave us in peace?
oh no, where are all the INS bloggers and Benedict Arnold name-callers?
Oh, you mean a man has a right to choose which nation he can represent on a soccer pitch, and it doesn’t make him a bad person? Wow, who knew….
We started Bornstein for years and could still call in Castillo.
Some of our best outfield players didn’t play for Germany. Wake up.
Poor Northern Ireland.
I would be interested to see if Porter would try to call in Henley or Potts into the Olympic squad.
Since 3 teams are playing as 1 (Scotland, England, Wales) = Great Britain, I don’t think any of these guys would be called in.
Henley will have a better international career with the US, but if choses wales, then its nothing but love for the country he grew up in!
No way..If they can’t make Wales or England they probably can’t make the US either
I really did not want Henley & Potts to get away from us. Hoping we can still atleast get 1.
If either of these guys fail to get capped by England/Wales, we strike.
Why would you guys want guys that don’t want to play for our country anyhow. I rather have guys that want to wear the red,blue and white even if the talent is not to par with these guys. Have guys that love this country, that is what is about, representing a country you want to make proud.
I don’t get it…
He will have to file a one time switch with FIFA in order to switch to the U.S.
Not surprised by this though. He has never really made it known that he wanted to play for the U.S. Not to worry the U.S. has a few promising youth LB’s coming down the pipeline i.e. Ocegueda, Cunningham, Moises Hernandez, Mikey Ambrose are jsut a few.
no, only a senior appearance in an official FIFA tournament will cap-tie someone
England, rather.
Thats a great theory, except its Wales, not the US. I know which one I would choose, given the option. Fail.
exactly. even the best teams in the world will often trot out their second-choice rightback at left back because it is simply a difficult position for many national teams to fill.
Does that cap tie him to the welch?
Was kind of surprised they’ve only been to one World Cup (1958) and have only qualified once for UEFA Cup (1976). Yeah, it’s a small country, but they have some really good players (maybe I over-rate because so many of them have an easier road to Premiership…unlike Americans.)
Solid left backs are hard to find in any country
If one chooses to play for Wales, its for love of country. Plain and simple. Good luck in your games, best wishes. If he wants to maximize his chances of playing in the World Cup, the US remains an option.
Not shocking. I’d bet the recent stuff Henley put out there was in hopes of getting England interest going rather than hoping for the US call-up.
Danny Potts is the guy that we’ve gotta stay with. It would be interesting to see if he gets any looks for the Olympics. I wonder if he’d want to do that given that the games are in London, but US Soccer should give it a shot.
Is there some sort of curse on left footed defenders in this country?
HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!
We need to start recruiting these young guys for our USMNT. College football style.
Wine and dine them till they get their first cap!
All kidding aside, its a bummer if we can’t Potts or Henley but we’ll be alright.
We were never getting Henley anyway. Next.