If you have a kid who is eligble to play for another country, would you want them to play for the US

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP here - I 100% guarantee there is atleast a little part of Pulisic looking at Croatia's run and realizing he'll never play in a World Cup Final like he could've in this cycle.

And yes, he would've played for croatia. He's a few levels above ante rebic. If you watch bundesliga week in week out, you know this.

My 10 and 12-year old sons keep saying this. And I've tried to pull the National pride thing on them, telling them that if you were raised here that you'd want to play for the US. "But mom, IT'S THE WORLD CUP!" I said 'endorsements'! Even if he loses with the US in an eventual World Cup he would be rolling around in even more $$. They aren't buying it.

"the National pride thing ..."

I think the word you are looking for there is patriotism. It means putting love of country above personal self interest. For many of us, that's more than just a "thing."

Don't get me wrong, I love this country enough to be highly and passionately critical of it on a regular basis (ex: racism, soccer system, choice of president), but no, my kid would never play for another country. World Cup or no World Cup. Endorsements or no endorsements. Just no.

Being world class gets you more endorsement deals in soccer .... how many super star US players merch who play abroad (where the best players play) do you see around?

There is only one super star US player right now, and I see his merchandise all the time. My son is wearing his jersey this morning as a matter of fact.

Any player who is good enough and has the opportunity to play in Europe should take it. That's a no brainer. It also has absolutley nothing to do with this thread.

This thread isn't about playing in another country. It's about playing for another country. Totally different.

What about players who don't have dual citizenship but become citizens of countries they want to play for? Kind of like Radosavljevi?? But doing it the other direction, like talented players looking for citizenship elsewhere. The only example that comes to mind is there is a Canadian WNT player who was actually born in the US and became a Canadian citizen to play for Canaday.

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on that?

[Anonymous]

Tangentially related to this is an interesting Vox video on France and how they have produced more World Cup players than any other nation by far this go round.

https://www.vox.com/videos/2018/7/10/17548670/france-world-cup-mbappe-immigration

"Fifty players at this year’s World Cup were born or raised in France. That’s far more than the number of those hailing from any other country, including Brazil, which is the country of origin for 28 players (making it second in this ranking). But not all these athletes play for France. French-born players can be found on the rosters of Morocco, Portugal, Senegal, and Tunisia. Why?"

[Anonymous]

My children would be eligible to play for two countries as they have dual citizenship due to my husband being an immigrants Mas his country of origin only requires a parent to be a citizen for children to be one. Hence my children, while born and raised so far in DC, have heritage to another country as well as here. We speak a second language, have a second house in another country, family in another country, spent significant time in another country, and basically the children are raised with two cultures.

I would be happy for my children to play for either country. I find the nationalism attitude against any other country but US very off putting. US or nothing st all?

The deal with France is that their talent base is eneormous and very gifted. It is insanely hard to make the French team. For every player that makes it there are several others who are just as good. France has had a long history of taking immigrants from former French colonies in Africa. So while many players were born in France their parents may have immigrated to France and were born somewhere else and their children have dual citizenship. But they may not be good enough to make the French team so they play for their other national team. Look at Paul Pogba, he plays for France. His twin brothers play for Guinea, they’re good but not as good as Paul.