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Report: Bayern’s Timothy Tillman set to join U.S. U-20s

While the U.S. Men’s National Team lost one highly-regarded dual-national this week, another appears set to be joining the U.S. youth structure.

Goal USA is reporting that Bayern Munich winger Timothy Tillman is set to join the U.S. U-20s for an upcoming training camp in March. The son of a German-American serviceman, Tillman has a U.S. passport and has represented Germany as a youth up to the U-19 level. As a result, Tillman would need to file a one-time switch with FIFA that would tie him to the U.S. permanently.

“He would have been with us here (in Florida at U.S. Soccer’s youth summit camp) but he was injured,” Ramos told Goal. “He told me he’s ready to go and ready to join us and I’m excited to have him in the group because we haven’t had him in before.”

Should Tillman complete his switch, he would follow in the footsteps of Jermaine Jones and Fabian Johnson, both of whom represented Germany before switching to the USMNT.

Tillman’s younger brother Malik also has played in the U.S. youth national team setup with the U-15 team.

Comments

  1. Man, the writing on this website is mediocre. He’s the son of an a American serviceman. He’s not the son of a German-American servicemen.

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  2. I wonder if people in Germany are losing their sht over this defection and calling him a traitor and hoping it has a career full of injuries.How classless would that be?

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    • If they did, I would have no problem with it at all.

      In addition to that there is a difference here in that his parents did not immigrate to Germany for a better life. He truly is 50/50 at birth.

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      • Yevgeniy, by your logic J Gonzalez is 100% Mexican. Yes his parents immigrated here, but he didn’t. He was not even an embryo. He took no part in the decision.

      • How can you make that call? Germany has better social and physical infrastructure, higher growth, better education systems, obviously better football infrastructure, higher literacy rate, lower poverty rates, and higher social mobility than the US. Do you know his parent’s reason for not returning to the US? Are you certain they’re not enjoying a better life in Germany than back in the US? If so, you must have a very close relationship to them and have the inside scoop. If not, don’t make assumptions that you can’t back up. Perhaps its the same situation as Gonzalez in that he weighed up his opportunities and made the decision base on his own assessment of where he’d have the greatest opportunity to shine given his current situation. Promising youth with no senior team action and a lot of competition in arguably the best national team in the world with the opportunity to form part of a national team undergoing a complete restructuring that won’t be participating in a WC until 4 1/2 years from now – plenty of time to consolidate oneself in a starting XI and get to know a “foreign” national team. Versus a young player who has already broken into a competitive club, earned the starting position for his natural role on the field and sees the opportunity to break out on the bigger stage this summer and the platform for bigger and better things. You can look at that or use the nativist rationale that you pose and just say “He ain’t really one of us.. good riddance to that unwanted immigrant. We want the immigrants that don’t really need us cause that means they won’t be leaches.” Yep, wonderful to see that point of view. Merica!

    • OK I’ll try to explain the difference between a German-American leaving Germany’s stricture and joining America’s, Vs. A Mexican-American Leaving the US set-up to play for Mexico…
      1) Germany has 50 prospects equal to Tillman in skill & age….The USA has maybe 4 players equal to Gonzalez in skill & age.
      2) The USA is not competing in UEFA. Different confederations lessens the issue.
      3) The USA is not Germany’s biggest Rival. A player we loose to Mexico weakens us, and strengthens them. That’s a double hit.

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  3. Another young winger is always a good thing, has made the first team bench a few times in some domestic cup matches

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  4. Not so sure people could feel that way. Tillman is an attacking mid, which we actually need a lot more than another #6, he’s got good size it appears as well. Speaking of size, I find it hard to believe Jona Gonzalez can be a incredibly effective #6 at the international level with how small he is. Sure, would’ve been nice to have him in the pool, but I’m not losing any sleep

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    • Right… speaking like a real American there. No wonder the USMNT let him slip through as they are steeped in that same mindset. Another small, creative mid with defensive duties that comes to mind is Xavi Hernandez. Makele and Kante are both under 1.70m. Paul Scholes is 1.68m. Lets keep looking for those 1.88m rowdies, our key to success.

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    • Again, what is this American obsession with size instead of skill and speed??? He is the same size as Makelele and N’Golo Kanté. The first is in the conversation for the best destroyer/cdm of all time and the second is in the conversation for conversation for the best playing right now. On top of that, he is not done filling out.

      I like Tillman, but JGonzalez is much further along at a year younger. He is an established pro at a recognized, strong and technical league. That being said, Tillman is in an area need.

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