It would appear that Ryan Meara's rise from unheralded college goalkeeper to New York Red Bulls starter is just the beginning of his whirlwind year.
According to the Irish Independent, Meara has declared his intent to play for Ireland and he will be called into the country's Under-21 national team later this month.
(UPDATE: According to MLSSoccer.com, the Red Bulls have denied Ireland's request for Meara, and he will remain with the club during the international break for World Cup qualifiers. New York was not required to release Meara for the youth competition.)
"We've been following him for a couple of months and then when he started their season as No. 1, that was a big statement," Ireland Under-21 coach Noel King said. "He's a big lad with good hands, and he's a strong kicker."
According to the Independent, the 21-year-old Meara, who was born in the United States but reportedly qualifies for Ireland through his grandparents, would join the Ireland U-21s at the end of the month for a friendly against Denmark and a 2013 U-21 European championship qualifier against Italy on June 4. He is coming off a strong performance over the weekend, making five saves to secure his first clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over New England.
The Red Bulls are not obligated to release Meara for the Ireland camp, but they won't have any games during the stretch in which he would be called upon by King.
————–
What do you think of this developement? Do you think the Red Bulls will/should release Meara for the camp?
Share your thoughts below.
Chances Klinsmann Cares: 0% (Would be lower if possible)
Howard, Guzan, Rimando, Kennedy, Hall, S. Clark, Hamid, S. Johnson, Z. MacMath, D. Yelldell, F. Pina, etc.
Jermaine Jones, Terrance Boyd, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson and a host of others say hello to you, Vic.
Is this guy serious? lol
How about this.
Chances that Jurgen Klinsmann had Ryan Meara on his radar yesterday? 50-50?
Chances Klinsmann knows exactly who Ryan Meara is today?100%.
Naturalized citizens need not apply?
Might as well go back to the days when France capped any youth player with a dual citizenship (thus tying them forever). Current rules give smaller countries a chance to catch up more quickly or not be devastated by out-migration. And it gives dual nationals more opportunity.
So…what exactly is the problem that this is trying to solve?
Sorry but I can think of 5 keepers just off the top of my head in his general age bracket between him and Timmy Howard. With that said good luck to him if he go farther in the Irish set-up.
Newsflash: He’s not better than Hamid & Johnson.
Granted Vuolo could and looks like will fill his spot, but there are US Open Cup games to be played at the time.
Brill!
These days I think it’s much less about a connection these guys feel with a place, rather where they think they will be able to play more, gain more exposure and hopefully a bigger contract / lucrative move in their professional careers.
Yes. They’re big Celtics fans.
I would propose the following: in order to represent a country you either need to be born in that country or have spent a plurality of your life in that country before age 18.
Fish and chips? Isn’t that more of an English signature dish? Try that one again.
If this guy is better than Hamid and Johnson, then, it could be a loss. We all know about Hamid and Johnson!
An one big difference is that US citizenship laws don’t extend to grandparents (except in a limited application done before age 18). If it did, we’d be trolling Europe & Mexico for more players.
You mean New Jersey pride, right?
For the record, the comparison of Meara to the German-Americans doesn’t carry any legitimacy. The German-Americans actually have an American parent. So, even though they’ve been raised in Germany, they have a direct linkage [in my eyes] to the good, ole US of A.
Meara on the other hand, is one step removed from the land of leprechauns and four-leaf clovers.
In my eyes, that makes his connection flimsy, but what do I know. FIFA thinks its legit.
He won’t be cap tied to Ireland. That will only happen in a senior team competition (not a friendly). He’ll be able to switch back to the US — if he has to apply to change will depend upon the type/level of competition.
Unfortunately, you have to choose and there’s no way of knowing which will be the best option. It’s tough to do to a young man or woman, but them’s the rules. He could be waiting around for years for a full US cap.
FIFA does have some pretty strict guidelines (more so than a number of other sports). He has the citizenship (anyone with an Irish grandparent should be able to get Irish citizenship — so it’s nothing unusual).
He’ll still be eligible to play for the US until he plays in an “official competition” at the senior level.
there are also several young US goal keepers abroad as well. I’m not concerned here.
Best of luck to the kid. I hope he cracks the senior squad.
QFT. As a Red Bulls fan, Meara can go to hell. What happened to all that New York pride? Gonna be an FDNY firefighter? Ha. **** off.
I think you mean that if someone has an Irish grandparent, he can claim Irish citizenship. (Obviously, if someone holds an Irish passport he is Irish, unless he’s Jason Bourne.)
It’s also worth making the George (Giorgos?) John point that until they put him on the field it’s not a done deal, and at U21 I’m not even sure if that’s a senior cap tie, or would bar a Jermaine Jones switch ….. assuming he even develops into something worth using.
Of course, this could also be an Andy Najar/Giuseppi Rossi done deal just the same.
He wasn’t an All-American (even third team) or even a MLS first round pick (31st, 2nd round). If he’s done well it’s almost in spite of his paper pedigree. While I think good GKs are usually already good young, it takes some GKs time to mature and while field players are peaking in their late 20s many GKs are just getting rolling.
Which means I’m not surprised Meara is off the US radar and in 5 years or so we’ll know better if Ireland has pulled a steal by ducking in for Meara. It bears reminding they also once beat us to the punch on Joseph Lapira, who these days is bouncing around from Norway to Indonesia and back, and couldn’t even make the Houston Dynamo on trial. NY’s defense stinks but 1.75 GA/game, if unimproved, might not keep you a MLS job even behind a lousy defense.
Well he can play in the friendly and the euro qualifier for the Ireland U21s at the end of this month because he’s not 22…yet. He won’t be able to play in the U21 European Championship for Ireland in 2013, obviously, because he turns 22 in November.
This call-up is probably just to get him acquainted with the Irish national team system and to show him that they’re are interested.
This has less to do with FIFA then it does with Ireland’s immigration laws. If someone holds an Irish Passport, they’re Irish….
You’re not really proposing that FIFA set immigration laws are you?
Omar…Very funny!
Well more than likely this won’t end up hurting us. Bill Hamid and Sean Johnson didn’t look so great in Olympic qualifying, but I think at least one of them will turn out into USMNT goalkeeper starting material. Even if they don’t turn out, our current goalkeepers still have some tread left on the tires. We will have Tim Howard through at least the 2014 World Cup, if not the 2015 Gold Cup and the 2018 World Cup too. Brad Guzan will most likely be the chief backup for Tim, and might even get a shot at being the starter come the 2018 World Cup.
Best of luck to Ryan Meara. I think he could be a starter in Europe some day. I think his decision to play for Ireland is not because he doesn’t have any interest in playing for the USA, but because he doesn’t think he’ll ever get a shot to play for the senior USMNT. Can’t really fault him for that.
He will be 22 in Nov or Dec. How does he play in the 2013 U21s?
I guess the answer is FIFA is wacky
Why should he catch hate…as it looks now, his chances to play for the USA are very low. Rossi on the other hand would have been a surefire starter, and likely star of the national team.
Do the Irish have a clue that he’s Larry Bird’s double?
He is no where near the calibur of the current crop of USMNT goal keepers. Remember, RBNY wanted Luis Robles as their GK until the MLS league office got in the way. This is not a loss at all for US soccer. Best of luck to him…unless he ever plays against the USA.
If we are going to lose players I’m in favor of gaining players, its only fair. However, I would be in favor of Fifa having strict guidelines.
So you feel a bigger connection to a country you never lived in over a country you were born and lived all your life?
insert next german-american flavor of the week.
he was born in germany, raised in germany. he’s german.
it hurts, uh?
You are now eligible for the California Stoner games.
This is about more than just sport, it’s about patriotism, pride, and love for your country. If the report is true he can go f**k himself.
If he gets an Irish passport and plays for their national team his job opportunities in a relatively short career (longer than field players) will be greatly increased. It is not goal keeping that is stopping the US from winning a World Cup at this point in player development.
From a career standpoint this makes a lot of sense for Meara. He hasn’t been integrated into the US youth setup at all and has guys like Hamid, Johnson, Cropper, McMath, Guzan, etc., ahead of him in line as contenders for potentially replacing Tim. If he wants to play internationally and there’s mutual interest between he and Ireland (and he’s eligible), more power to him.
Best of luck to him. Hope it helps him grow as a player and make a ton of money.
Wow. Did not see that coming. Well, there goes a promising GK. Thast OK if there is one area the U.S. will continue to produce great players it wil be GK. With the emergence of Joe Willis at D.C. and MacMath at Philly that puts 4 young Goalies in the mix going FWD. Johnson, Hamid, MacMath, Willis. Not to mention Steve Clark at Honefoss in Norway so that puts 5 young goalies in the mix going fwd.
I could play for Italy because of my heritage and I would consider playing for them if the opportunity came up. I was thinking more like participating in an obscure sport in the Olympics since my soccer skills have always been minimal.
Why would he do that? He’s young enough to have an impact in the US program as Howard will eventually retire. Does he feel a connection with Ireland so much he would turn his back on his home?
If I were a home grown international calibre player, nothing would be more satisfying than helping the US break barriers. Like beating Italy, like beating Spain. Like hopefully someday being on the first US team to win the World Cup. Dempsey, Donovan, Howard, Bradley etc can all be proud for the “firsts” they have achieved and will continue to achieve.
just because you’re born and raised here doesnt mean you have to play for america. i was born and raised here, but my parents and allllll my other family are from spain so given the chance i’d want to play for them
Im not mad that he chose to play for Ireland im mad that he has the option to play for them because of his grandparents
haha, thats funny
That’s weird — I listened to Phish and watched CHiPs last week….
If Fifa any any backbone whatsoever they would crack down on stuff like this. He was born and raised in America, he’s American. I had fish and chips last week can I play for Ireland?
What? Four minutes gone and no hate yet? Will we hate him more than Rossi because he’s a ‘keeper? Other reasons?
Good luck Meara, and if you decide to stick with Ireland throughout your career, I hope you do well, but not as well as we do. You’re still American, just like Rossi and about 30% of the Mexican national women’s team.
Well. I did not see that coming.