The Giuseppe Rossi American Hate-A-Thon Commences

I’m happy US soccer fans feel so patriotic about where players were born. I hope they’ll henceforth stop talking about the 1950 WC USA vs England 1-0 win. Not only was the only goalscorer born in Haiti, but the US captain was born in Scotland, and one of the US defenders was born in Belgium.

Perhaps US soccer fans will now reconsider the US caps earned by Adu (born in Ghana), Feilhaber (born in Brazil), Ihemelu (born in Nigeria), Mastroeni (born in Argentina), Thorrington (born in South Africa), Agoos (born in Switzerland), Stewart (born in the Netherlands), Dooley (born in Germany), Ramos (born in Uruguay), Windischmann (born in Germany) or Perez (born in El Salvador), and perhaps their concern will be heard high enough in the FIFA hierarchy to set more restrictive player eligibility measures.

Posted from  Australia

Johnny : ” Again, I hate losing and I would like to think that we can still go on and win against the big teams. ”

Not gonna happen sir. USA football ( soccer ) fans should get used to the idea of losing to the ” Big ” teams, as they are head and shoulders above yours…….this coming form someone who lives in the states.

I think you are all missing the point. The US allowed Rossi’s parents to move to the US. They didn’t come here b/c of a job. He didn’t come over here to go to school. The Rossi family moved to the US in search of a better life. They moved here b/c in Italy they would have never had the opportunities that they had in the US. So yes, I believe Rossi should at least respect what the US has provided him.

Now, as far as him training outside of the US. This isn’t uncommon. Spector, Onyewu, and others have trained and played their entire career outside of the US. Spector trained with Rossi in Manchester United’s youth program. And no Rossi hasn’t done most of his training in Italy. He did most of it in England, and Western Asia (on loan from ManU). He has only been in Italy for the last couple of years. So, don’t give me this “He has trained his whole life in Italy”.

All in all, Rossi has turned his back on the country that gave his family the opportunity to allow him to play soccer at the level he is at. Do you think the outcome would have been the same if the Rossi family was still living in poverty in Italy? Would he have been noticed by the scouts if he was only playing in pick-up games in the streets of Italy?

morpheus: Where do you think Brazilian kids play soccer? It’s not as if they play at super-expensive training facilities or play in their backyards right behind their mansions. They start out on the streets. You can still make it big after living in poverty.

And as long as his parents paid taxes he’s done enough. Does every citizen really need to go into the military or play a sport at the national level to pay his country back?

What have YOU given back? How many caps do you have?

Rece Davis said it best… and he’s not soccer pundit.

“The Great American Player plays for Italy!”

God bless him for playing in Italy… as a matter of fact they made him the soccer player he is. He developed at Parma’s youth side (not NYRB, thank God!).

Never played a pro minute in the US (Thank God!)

Posted from  United States

Again, I understand the history of American football and their reputation (well deserved) for pouching smaller countries of their players. I understand that Rossi is the same situation in reverse.

I get it.

But, I am always America First. Not to make excuses, but the US is a worldwide melting pot to begin with anyway, so when foreigners come in, it seems run of the mill. But if people in Haiti want to be mad about Player X leaving their country, I understand that because they love their country. I LOVE mine. So it is incomprehensible to me for someone who has been given everything by this wonderful country, including a stage to market himself from, turn his back. I am VERY culturally Argentine, but my loyalty is with the US for the opportunities it afforded my family.

Someone earlier stated that this is a condemnation not of the USA but of US Soccer. I find both entities mutually intertwined. It is like the Olympics – you are representing your people. Your country. And I repeat, I could care less about US soccers pilfering history. I am American. He is American. This is incomprehensible.

Posted from  United States

morpheus, Rossi played for Parma’s youth team from the age of 13 until Fergie poached him five years later. For all intents and purposes then, the majority of his developmental training was done in Italy.

MoMONEY

brett hull – born in canada
tim duncan – virgin islands (don’t know if that counts)

i was always under the impression that landon donavan was half canadian so he could play for canada… but u can keep him

Posted from  Canada

At MoMoney..Benny Feilhaber was born in Brazil and plays for the U.S.

I respect him a lot, today you see a lot of players seemingly take the easier route and play with another country whose team theyd make without a problem. Rossi could easily being playing on the US team but took the challenge to play with Italy and I commend him for that.

Posted from  United States

It’s always been understood that he would represent Italy and I can live with that. I took issue with they way he celebrated his goal (amazing strike as it was). Ironically, his celebration seemed stereotypically “American” – running halfway down the pitch as if sinking a three pointer at the buzzer. He could have taken a page out of Podolski’s book to say the least. The lack of class and respect is what I have a problem with.

Posted from  United States

New Jersey sucks soo bad when this pilot found out he was headed there his heart just stopped beating Mid-Flight. NOBODY wants to go to New Jersey!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/18/continental-airlines-pilot-dies

Posted from  United States

Morpheus : Rossi’s parents moved to the US to work, in search of a better life, or simply to escape the various social problems in post-WW2 Italy. But the US was more than happy to turn a blind eye on Stewart’s parents having decided to live in the Netherlands or Dooley’s parents having chosen to live in the US. Stewart and Dooley were called up to the US national team despite having never been to the US before for any sizeable amount of time, having lived their entire life in the Netherlands or Germany. Both were eligible to play for another country (Netherlands or Germany) and although they were probably not good enough to hold down regular places in the Dutch or German national team, they chose to represent the USA well before the prime of their career. Do Dutch and/or German fans turn around and claim that either of them were lacking respect because they chose to play for the US? Rossi’s parents received opportunities in the US that they might not have received elsewhere. But before US fans go on about “respecting the country that brought you up” perhaps they should look at Stewart’s 101 caps and Dooley’s 81 caps and captaincy of the US national team.

Rossi went to Parma to play junior football when he was 13, and at age 17 joined Man U. He never trained in “West Asia” but was loaned to Newcastle when he was 18 and to Parma when he was 19 before joining Villareal when he turned 20. Rossi was capped for the Italian U-16s, U-17s, U-18s and U-21s before earning his first cap for the full national side, so it can hardly be called a “surprise” that he chose to play for Italy and not the US. It’s not like he had played at any meaningful level in the US or any junior national side of the USMT and then at the last minute chose to play for Italy. Rossi lived for 13 years in the US, 5 years in Italy, 3 years in the UK and almost 2 years in Spain. Stewart lived for 39 years in the Netherlands and 1 year in the USA. Dooley lived for 42 years in Germany and for 6 years in the USA. Rossi represents Italy, Stewart and Dooley represented the USA. Double standards much?

Dave Martinez: “So it is incomprehensible to me for someone who has been given everything by this wonderful country, including a stage to market himself from, turn his back”

“Given everything” is a pretty vague statement. Rossi’s parents weren’t high-income officials or successful entrepreneurs, but teachers. Similarly, what “stage to market himself from” was he given? U-12 matches? Without wanting to sound negative, I think the place he got at Parma was probably more to do with his father “pimping” him to Parma than any active scouting on Parma’s behalf amongst New Jersey U-12 or U-14 teams. After that, he never had any relationship with the US again in soccer terms. Parma, Man U, Newcastle, Parma (again), Villareal… He is where he is because of how hard he has worked outside of the US, not because of how well he did in the US.

Stewart and Dooley didn’t get anything but praise from the US fans for choosing to represent the US, even though they had much less link to the US than Rossi had to Italy. Stewart and Dooley felt “American” enough to want to represent the US even if it meant playing against the country where they were born, where at least one of their parents was born and had lived their whole life, and where they had lived -all- their life at that point. Rossi felt “Italian” enough to make the choice to play for the country where both his parents were born, where he emigrated to live when he was 13 and where he started playing football at a high competitive level. If you find Rossi’s conduct disgusting, then how is Stewart or Dooley any better? If anything, it should be worse, since they never lived in the country they chose to represent, nor did they ever play football there prior to receiving their first cap…

Posted from  Australia

SHAZBACK! NEW JERSEY SUCKS!

“People make fun of France for poaching Africa, but it’s often shrugged off because these players have the chance to play for a superior team”

FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL, CHRIS GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT: France does NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT POACH AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Neither did Italy “poach” Rossi from the US, as you rightly argue.

NONE, absolutely NONE of the so-called “African” players in the French national team played in Africa, or were trained in Africa. Almost all of them were BORN in France. Those few who were not born in France emigrated to France as toddlers.

ALL OF THEM WERE RAISED, EDUCATED, TRAINED IN FRANCE!

In fact, Rossi’s case is actually less “defensible” than the French players with African/Caribbean backgrounds because Rossi went to a US soccer youth academy and left the US at the age of 13.

That is NOT the case with any of the French players. They received NO football schooling in Africa at all.

Posted from  United States

“blood is Italian” — there’s no such thing as “Italian blood” or “American blood.” That’s a racist eugenics concept, anyone who talks that way is showing their incredibly racist ignorance.

Posted from  United States

I think that a lot of this anger comes from a different place than many of you think. Past Tim Howard, the US has absolutely no world class players. Some very good, competent players, but no one who is world class. Rossi is.

Yeah, Stewart and Dooley may have been kinda sketchy, but does anyone believe that they would have started for Germany or the Netherlands? Rossi could step in and start for the US, and the fact that he was born and lived the first 13 years of his life in the US makes this all the tougher for US soccer fans to take. He could have been ours, and he’s so good it drives us crazy that he’s playing for Italy. Same with Subotic, although he could have been ours if our youth coaches weren’t idiots.

Posted from  United States

So in conclusion…..new jersey sucks.

I don’t mind. I mean if his parents came here right before he was born, he was born, stayed here for his childhood and then they moved back, thats fine, his parents want him to be Italian, not American.

I’m from NJ which made it even worse watching him single handedly destroy us. *sigh*

Posted from  United States

i hte that fucking traitor america should deport his whole fucking family born in the us he is a fucking traitor killhim if i ever see him

DELETED BY MODERATOR

and another thing look at kobe lived in italy ….never forgot what saved his familys ass……usa

Rob, New Jersey sucks, but not as much as you.

Giuseppe “TRADITORE” Rossi will be sitting at home on the couch with the rest of team Italia eating pizza pies watching his real glorious homeland (USA) battle in the Confederations finals for the cup…

CLASSIC!!!

Rob please go seek therapy. You need help.
and What is up with Worldcupblog, it’s full of racist and nuts.