Some people will do anything to get out of New Jersey.
Last week’s challenge was to put together two separate teams: the first comprised of foreign-born players who opted to play for the USMNT, the second comprised of players eligible to play for the USMNT, but who chose to play for other countries. There was an almost infinite number of player combinations that could have worked for either team, so there was no “right” answer. A special pat on the back was offered to anyone who could pick a team and put them in a standard football formation (4-4-2, 5-3-2, etc.). I have included my teams for illustrative purposes-
USA
GK Vojislav “Scoop” Stanisic, Belgrade, Yugoslavia (moved to the USA at age 24)
D Thomas Dooley, Bechhofen, Germany (American father)
D Jeff Agoos, Geneva, Switzerland (father was an American diplomat)
D Fernando Clavijo, Moldonado, Urugauy (moved to the USA at age 23)
D Janusz Michalik, Chorzów, Poland (moved to the USA at age 16)
M Earnie Stewart, Veghel, Netherlands (American father)
M Pablo Mastroeni, Mendoza, Argentina (moved to the USA at age 4)
M Benny Feilhaber, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (moved to the USA at age 6)
M Freddy Adu, Tema, Ghana (moved to the USA at age 8.)
F Jeff Cunningham, Montego Bay, Jamaica (moved to the USA at age 14)
F “Preki” Radosavljević, Belgrade, Yugoslavia (moved to the USA at age 23)
Not USA
GK “Boaz” Myhill, Modesto, CA (Wales)
D Neven Subotić, Banja Luka, Yugoslavia (Serbia)*
D Steven Ehrichs, New York, NY (Puerto Rico)
D Brede Hangeland, Houston, TX (Norway)
D Daryl Ferguson, Baltimore, MD (Barbados)
M Arturo Alvarez, Houston, TX (El Salvador)
M Noah Delgado, Fremont, CA (Puerto Rico)
M Duane Glinton, Livermore, CA (Turks & Caicos Islands)
F John Barry Nusum, Mineola, NY (Bermuda)
F Giuseppe Rossi, Teaneck, NJ (Italy)
F Jarrod Laventure, Middle Island, NY (Haiti)
As usual, Green Eggs & Fulham was on the job almost instantly with a correct answer. This week, however, he was joined by our own Magnakai Haaskivi. Both of these fine gentlemen were able to put there teams in formation, so bully for them!
I’ll see you tomorrow with a new challenge!
*Subotić lived in the USA for eight years and represented the USA at the U-17 and U-20 levels.
I even did mine WITHOUT checking the “avoidingthedrop” e-mail to steal GE&F’s answers.
Here was my team of U.S. players (along with the other country they could represent):
ST-Peter Vermes (Hungary)
ST-Freddy Adu (Ghana)
MF-Earnie Stewart (Holland)
MF-Jose Francisco Torres (Mexico)
MF-Benny Feilhaber (Brazil)
MF-Hugo Perez (El Salvador)
MF-Preki (Yugoslavia)
DEF-Carlos Bocanegra (Mexico)
DEF-Marcelo Balboa (Argentina)
DEF-Fernando Clavijo (Uruguay)
GK-Tim Howard (Hungary)
And my Expatriate 11 (with the country they chose to represent instead):
ST-Giuseppe Rossi (Italy)
ST-Jon-Paul Pittman (England C)
ST-Joseph Lapira (Ireland)
MF-Kupono Low (Puerto Rico)
MF-Alfonso Negro (Italy)
MF-Arturo Alvarez (El Salvador)
DEF-Edgar Castillo (Mexico; he’s American but has been capped for Mexico, even though he’s now looking to be capped for the U.S.)
DEF-Willis Forko (Liberia; he was born in Liberia but moved to the States when he was three)
DEF-Neven Subotic (Serbia)
DEF-Bakary Soumare (Mali)
GK-Pat Harrington (Canada)