German born Jermaine Jones, a former native of Chicago and Greenwood, Mississippi, has passed his citizenship change.
Now, there are many different ways to analyze this, but here at Backwards Pass, we choose to pursue the moral low ground. Germany and their the baby-stealing national team have always been noted for the mixed heritages of their players, in a rather controversial way. In the last Euro 2008, five players were foreign born, including:
Kevin Kurányi - Brazil
Miroslav Klose - Poland
Piotr Trochowski - Poland
Lukas Podolski - Poland
Oliver Neuville - Switzerland
They may not be as bad as Sven Goran Money Burns Holes in My Pants' singular efforts to deMexify the Mexican national team, but Germany's finest players, notably Klose and Podolski, made it an objective to play for Das Mudderland. If FIFA regulations had been different, then maybe Poland would have been runners up in the past two World Cups. Most likely not, but still the argument even existing serves the purpose.
Anyhow, JJ is a fine player. He's no Podolski, and thankfully not a Kuranyi, but he would be a no-brainer starter if he should wear the Red, White, and Bloo to South Africa. In fact, the picture I nabbed is from 6 months in the future. He got the tattoo on his arm after the USA knocked out Germany in double overtime to win their first ever World Cup.
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Interesting issue, this. And it will be more and more controversial with each tournament that comes. During the last World Cup there were German fans who didn't feel that Gerald Asamoah was "German" enough for the team. It makes you wonder how they felt about Klose and Podolski.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, I think, it will be an issue for FIFA to figure out. It's one thing to be foreign born and play for a different country on the outset, but players like Owen Hargreaves, Jonathon de Guzman, Marcos Senna, it's almost like they are cheating. It's always hard to tell how much of an impact these moves have before it's too late.
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