Playing in a friendly actually cap-tied him because he is not a U.S. citizen. If he was a U.S. citizen and played in the friendly, it would not have cap-tied him.
http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup...spirit-of-international-football-gab-marcotti
2016 Preseason Thread
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http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup...spirit-of-international-football-gab-marcotti
The Gulf states definitely have their own fair share of the blame, but the rule was originally brought in because one of the World Cups in the early 00s featured several African teams with an alarmingly high number of Brazilian players featuring.
http://www.worldsoccer.com/uncatego...ntegrity-is-undermined-by-mark-gleeson-278327
That said, I've probably already beaten a dead topic long enough, so I'm going to leave it there.
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Not sure this is accurate. Didn't Diego Costa play multiple friendlies for Brazil, then became a Spanish citizen and switched teams?
The whole thing is weird
With costa he had already been in Spain for more than five years before Brazil even called him up for friendlies, which were two if I recall correctly
Don't know how long poku has been in the USA.
derek_villa the video might start a tad late as it doesn't exactly show the first person in the video as they're getting off.
Wingert is a serial tweeter and has tweeted nothing about the preseason or Fla. Something must be up.
this is tentatively promising
Costa was started living and playing in Spain in 2007. He lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 in Spain and acquired his new nationality sometime in 2012. At this point he had not played any games for either Spain or Brazil and had the option to play for either.
Costa did play in 2 friendlies in the Spring of 2013 for Brazil, got his Spanish citizenship later that summer, and then did his one time nationality switch to Spain and appeared for Spain in 2014 World Cup.
Costa had already fulfilled the FIFA requirements for acquiring a new nationality before he had participated in the two friendlies with Brazil.
The reason this does not apply to Poku is because Poku did not qualify for having American nationality as he has not lived in the U.S. continuously for five years before playing for Ghana. Friendly or not he is not eligible to switch nationalities like Costa because he did not have his American nationality before getting the cap for Ghana.
To be sure. My hopefulness is based on the expectation that if we were to unload him somehow we would have more cap space and could get someone better than we otherwise would.
I smell a conspiracy!!
If only we had someone in Florida to go see
It's so promising that we should all have a drink to celebrate - and we're not necessarily doing it because we're stuck inside during a blizzard.
What I'm not sure about is how his American wife plays in to the equation. My understanding was he had already started the citizenship process once married with his green card. Not sure if that somehow makes it closer to the Costa example or not - it seems a bit like David Regis becoming an American via his wife albeit without the foreign friendly played..... a combination of Regis/Costa?
I don't think this applies to Poku. Doesn't "official competition" mean a "non-friendly" game? I think the rule you quoted is the one that cap ties players who appear for their junior teams unless they are dual nationals who file a "one-time switch" like Aron Johansson did.
Poku has not appeared in an offcial competition for Ghana. He has also lived in the U.S. for 5 years. His wife is American, so it should be easy for him to gain citizenship if it's something he wants.
You can also get an exemption from the 5 year rule, by the way, which we did for Gedion Zelalem.
I'll be reaching out soon to see if I can get some training access. Otherwise It'll be the games.I smell a conspiracy!!
This. Friendlies don't mean anything internationally, he will just have to file a one time switch. That said, I don't think he is entirely set on switching from the country which raised him for his first 16 years.
