If Guiseppe Rossi finds his way on the Italian national team soon, he'd unknowingly be following another young American's lead. A major difference between Rossi and Edgar Castillo, though, is the language their parents speak.
And how strange would it be for Americans to play for both the azzurri and El Tri? Or would sad be more fitting an adjective? Or frustrating? Or what other word would you use?
12 comments:
Talk about ungrateful, hopefully he and Rossi never went to a public school, was protected by police offices, visited a hospital, or benefited in anyway from their time in the US. Saying the "system" is at fault seems indicative of an opportunistic attitude, not a bad thing, but in the end it conveys a lack of determination to play for the country you spent the majority of your life in. Being part of a generation that exudes entitlement it's no surprise Rossi and Castillo sought out the best possible situation for themselves.
Its not Castillo fault he got over looked by USSF. U-20's Ferrai and Smith were not called in until they made European club rosters. But did those players get call ups when they made Euro clubs but no USSF coaches called Castillo or the others into camps when they made Mexican clubs? Now since they are about to make El Tri's senior team people are taking notice and saying they should play for the US. But the US ignored their potential for all those years. An there are others, Ramon Nunez and Sharie Joseph are just 2 more who the US passed up loss to other countries. There will be more US citizens lost. But there are several Amreican players who were not even born or only born in the US who are in our player pool. Quentin Westberg of France and Zat Whitebread have both spent little of lives in the US but are in the US player pool. We have lost those we should have and have gained those we should not have.
US soccer culture is cosmopolitan. Rossi very likely has been protected by Italian police once or twice in his life.
Castillo might have been protected by police in the states. He also might have heard from Lou Dobbs and company that people like his parents are the US's biggest problem.
We should have no sense of entitlement to them.
Our team will benefit from having these guys around. They are likely to play at the club level and may be handy trainers or even managers later.
hey guys, c'mon! Let's leave the political talk out....
The reality is we catch all the kids playing in this country, 300 million people but yet only 1 national for each age group. On top of that we have to fight for these kids hearts and loyality. The pull of familial roots is a strong one and though players may feel American, they often have feet in two worlds. Sometimes the non-American foot wins. Will Johnson choose Canada and George Weah Jr a player in AC Milan's youth system debated for months if he should player for Liberia despite being American. There still more and USSF's situation is not unique. USSF will have show that playing for the US will play them greater benefits, then running off with a team that will only make the WC once every 20 years or with a team like Italy or Mexico where there are 10 more players in their position in the pipe line.
Ungrateful? Don't be ridiculous. You have the logic of a five year old.
I think Rossi has made it clear he only wants to represent Italy. I don't fault him at all, I understand that the connection to one's heritage is a powerful one. It sucks for the USNT but we shouldn't hate him for it.
Edgar's case is completely different, he basically got zero attention from the USSF. He would've happily played for the US had someone showed him a little love. In a recent interview he sounds a bit bent that he had to go through an open tryout with Santos in order for someone to notice him...he got what he wanted as seems quite content with his decision. Kind of ironic that a Mexican-American kid in the "Land of Opportunity" had to move to Mexico to get one...
Get used to it now that the US development programs are more specifically targeting hispanic players. For every one mexican-american player that makes it to the US national teams, ten or more will work their way to the mexican national squads. The majority of Mexican-americans have far less loyalty to the US than they do for the USA.
The "ungrateful" argument is specious and silly. Edgar comes from a relatively poor community in southern New Mexican and I'm guessing that he does not come from wealthy parents. I'd like to see survey on the average income of other USMNT players families. Again, my guess is that it is upper middle class at its lowest spectrum and the poorer kids are from urban areas where they could hop the bus to events. Edgar did what Americans are supposed to do - surveyed his opportunities, seized the day and realized his dream. Players with a passion for the game play where they have opportunities to play.
Bottom line: US Soccer needs to do a better job of identifying talent in the hinterlands and keeping track of them.
And the comment that Mexican-Americans are disloyal is complete buls*&^t!. No its "f"ing buls*&^t!
Mexican-Americans are loyal to Mexico, as they should be considered they can only aspire to second-rate citizenship anywhere outside of NY, LA, Houston, or Miami.
All this just shows what a sham these "national" teams are. What is the point of having them if it isn't for loyalty and gratitude to one's home country. Basically Edgar and Rossi are just free agents looking for the place that benefits them both, which is fine, but contrary to the idea of patriotic sportsmanship.
Some folks are crossing the line injecting patriotic analogies and "loyalty" into sport.
The Castillo story is a common tale and everybody knows we need to do a better job identifying talent, developing it, and keeping it.
I really am optimistic with Bob Bradley in charge, he seems to get it.
I forgot to add that Jesus "El Gringo" Padilla, who is on Chivas of Guadalajara's roster is still out there available for the US to land. The kid is the real deal, and he is built like a sherman tank and has all the tools.
He's patiently waiting his turn to start but is locked behind Bravo, Santana, Medina, and co...
Unfortunately for him he would have to leave Chivas to play for the US Nats...but MLS and the US Nats should/could put together a package situation for him to play for an MLS team if "they think he's good enough" and still get him on the olympic team track.
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