The rules are ******** and I'd loved to have them changed, and I'm aware of all the situations you have named above. I'm stating that he is Honduran. I'd like to see Honduran footballers play for Honduras etc.

I don't think you get to decide who is Honduran/American/English/whatever.

Saying "I'm stating that he is Honduran" is waaaaaaaaay oversimplifying a very complicated issue. Especially for a country like the USA where our entire history is a history of immigrants assimilating into american culture and choosing to become american. If he decides that he wants to be an american, then he's no longer "honduran". He's honduran-american. If he decides he wants to honduran, that's his decision as well. But it's not for you or me to decide.

so much fail in this post, see Dannyoceans post, this is America, we are made of immigrants. I have no problem if he chooses Honduras. But the kid grew up here, if he chooses the US then so be it.

**** that danny, clearly it's better to leave things up to imaginary lines and the dead people who drew them!

http://mlsinsiderblog.com/?p=4094

Najar's Father: "The United States has the Advantage"

“The coaches in the United States are seeing him. They have not called him up yet but they have him in their sights and the truth is that they are more interested in him than those from Honduras, because they come to see him play but those from his own country do not. The Honduran federation has called up him but they do not even bother coming here to see how he plays.”

“The United States has the advantage for him to play with them because they scout him regularly and in addition they [D.C. United] have him studying and they continue to prepare him in soccer. I know that Honduran fans will feel bad if he makes this decision but it is down to what he decides.”

I'm super excited that the US U-20's are coming to north Atlanta over Thanksgiving weekend for a pair of matches against Colombia and Mexico. There's a game Friday and Sunday, so bookending the GT/UGA game on Saturday, and I'm trying to get some friends together for one (probably Mexico cause FU Cruizn )

Here's a copy of the email I sent to friends:

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/U-20-MN...nnesaw-Ga.aspx

Pretty sure I want to go to at least one game depending on who's called in. 11/26 (Colombia) and 11/28 (Mexico), so the day before and after UGA/GT game. Tickets start at $14 per game.

Steve, I have no idea what your schedule is, so I'm just throwing it out there.

Would go to see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Agudelo (balllllllller)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Salgado (said "FU Mexico," about to be #1 pick in MLS)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_Agbossoumonde (defender also known as 'Boss')
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Gil (Arsenal tried to buy him)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_Bowen (Forward of the future)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_McInerney (ATL kid on Philadelphia Union)
Zac McMath (no wiki page, keeper at Maryland for the moment, trained with Everton after shutting fools down in the 2010 Milk Cup in July)


And here is the list of players called up:

GOALKEEPERS (2):
Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town; Athens, Ga.)
Eduardo Fernandez (Real Salt Lake AZ; Casa Grande, Ariz.)

DEFENDERS (7):
Gale Agbossoumonde (G.D. Estoril Praia; Syracuse, N.Y.)
Bryan De La Fuente (Chivas USA; Bell, Calif.)
Greg Garza (G.D. Estoril Praia, Grapevine, Texas)
Korey Veeder (Crystal Palace Baltimore; St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Parker Walsh (Karlsrucher SC; Roanoke, Va.)
TBD
TBD

MIDFIELDERS (7):
Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United; San Francisco, Calif.)
Alex Molano (NK Dinamo Zagreb; Grapevine, Texas)
Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union; Sacramento, Calif.)
Moises Orozco (Tigres; Oxnard, Calif.)
Conor Shanosky (D.C. United, Sterling, Va.)
Alex Zahavi (Maccabi Haifa F.C.; Lisbon, Portugal)
Cesar Zamora (Chivas USA; Sylmar, Calif.)

FORWARDS (4):
Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls; Barnegat, N.Y.)
Tristan Bowen (Los Angeles Galaxy; Van Nuys, Calif.)
Fuad Ibrahim (Toronto FC; Richfield, Minn.)
Omar Salgado (Unattached; El Paso, Texas)


So yeah, basically all the forwards I wanted to see are coming. Pretty bummed that hometown kid JackMac won't be there (maybe the call him in as one of the TBD?) but I completely forgot about the Lleget kid and now I'm excited to see him.

rumor has it Tim Ream and Agudelo getting called in for match on 17th! wooo

Living in America for four years constitutes growing up there? Interesting. He is a Honduran citizen and is on a green card right now, if Yahoo is correct. I have Danny on ignore, so I will ignore his post.

I assume you will all treat Rossi's decision to play for Italy with the same respect you did with this kid?

Why exactly is this being talked about? Every single National Team has players who have ties to multiple countries.

Rossi played for US national youth teams.

Najar never played organized soccer in Honduras.

Not to mention that we didn't decide that we should change the rules because of Rossi, we were disappointed in his decision though.

Not good ol' engerland. All born and bred on the island. Although, I'm sure Hoopie would cream in his pants if Arteta put on the three lions shirt.

On the flip side - Rossi always held dual citizenship. Najar does not.

I understand that the rules are how they are, but when one guy uses them to do what suits them to not suit team USA he is a pantomime villain, when this guy does the same he isn't.

This is something of an understatement, from what I remember about the reaction about it on here.

It would be ridiculous - much like the suggestions that Di Canio, Almunia (no laughing at the back) and others should be eligible to play for England. I understand that the rules are the way they are, I think they need changing.

The Arteta/Almunia thing is ridiculous because these are guys who have solely just been playing professionally in another country, and thats why they are eligible. I don't see how that is similar to a player growing up in a country and then playing for that NT. Yes he's only been here for four years, but he played organized ball here and he has received extensive training from DC United's academy.

I mean, if your point is that we reacted negatively, or even harshly, ummm yeah so what? We also root for the USMNT when they play. Shocker I know.

We didn't say the rules should be changed, and there wasn't any serious questioning over Rossi's right to choose.

Agreed, its really not at all inconsistent to berate Rossi for leaving us and still be glad that Najar might be joining us.

It's not like we haven't lost other players as well, just that Rossi is the most notable and we just so happen to be super weak up top.

We don't get any players from Hawaii anyway, let's just take Honduran players instead of those guys.

We were/are pissed at Rossi because he decided to play for Italy. You have the same right to be angry. To blindly state that the rule is wrong is irrelevant. But we do feel your pain.

No that isn't my point.

There is nothing blind about it.

Eh? What's that you say? Eh?

wazzu, barking up the wrong tree and you are missing his point.

meh, whatever, still thought it was funny. I agree with some of it to a degree in that there is too much shuffling around right now, but I don't think it should just be thrown out the window either. I wouldn't be against it being tightened down a bit even if I'm not sure what they would change.