Giuseppe Rossi Should Choose the U.S.
This article is a submission for the Soccerlens Football Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here.
Written by James Riggio.
The time has come when Giuseppe Rossi has to make yet another important decision.
Just when the 20-year-old New Jersey native thought he was finished, he will soon have to make up his mind of what to do as far as his international career goes. Perhaps he already has, having made it clear that he wants to represent Italy, the birth nation of his parents. He moved back to Italy when he was 13.
After his transfer from English power Manchester United to Spain’s Villareal, Rossi certainly had to be disappointed that no Serie A club acquired him. Apparently nine goals in 19 games to help save Parma from relegation was not enough for anyone to put forward the 10 million euros it cost Spanish club Villareal to buy Rossi. Sure enough, Rossi has shown he was worth the money, as he already has five goals in La Liga this year.
The situation becomes interesting now for Rossi who has played for Italy at the Under 16-, U-17, U-18 and U-21 national teams.
He does not have a cap with Italy’s senior national team, meaning he is still eligible to play for the United States. Although times are changing, Italy general does not select very many national team players that play outside of Serie A, especially those who are not already fixtures in the national team.
So this creates an interesting situation now for Rossi. Before he is eligible to buy a beer in the U.S., he will have played in all three of the top leagues in the world –the English Premership, Serie A and Spain’s La Liga. With Villareal, he is playing for a team that was playing in the UEFA Champions League semifinals just two seasons ago. And there is a clause in his contract allowing Manchester United to repurchase him in the future if it chooses to do so.
Rossi can be a world class player without ever stepping foot in Italy again. Therefore, it would seem like a good idea if Rossi bailed on Italy and decided to play for New Jersey-native Bob Bradley, the U.S. National Team coach. With the U.S., Rossi would move into the starting lineup from day one.
If he continues to play as he has shown, Rossi would also give the U.S. its first player that is actually in high demand by the best clubs in the world. While the U.S. National Team will never be as popular as the Azzurri are in Italy, Rossi can be the shining star symbol that would get much of the attention that Landon Donovan now enjoys. Rossi might actually get some endorsements and a little more money out of this. Picking the U.S. over the world champions would instantly open the eyes of those who believe in American soccer. It would also generate some more interest for American soccer fans.
My advice to Rossi would be to play for the U.S. He was born here, and not given the treatment he deserves in Italy. He should make Italy and its clubs realize it made a huge mistake by not buying him, and keeping him at home on the peninsula.
And after all, playing for the greatest country in the world isn’t exactly something to frown upon.
This article is a submission for the Soccerlens Football Writing Competition; to participate, please read the details here.
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At the cost of repeating myself… “what Americans seem to fail to understand is that if Rossi keeps up his current form, it’s almost guaranteed he’ll snatch a place with the Azzurri senior team at some point.”
To put it simply, there would be only two reasons why Rossi would choose USA over Italy:
1) He doesn’t have a shot playing for Italy (i.e. he’s not good enough)
2) He ‘feels’ more American than he feels Italian.
Point nº1 is not true, and point nº2 isn’t true either (he feels just as much Italian as he feels American).
So again, the question that no one seems to be able to answer: why on earth would he choose to play for the USA?
Playing for America is a joke
There is no honour or prestige
Marco: my answer = impatience? I’m saying it will happen, I don’t think it will, but if it does it’ll be because he’s fed up waiting for a call from Italy. But he’s only 20, I think he’s got a little more patience left…
That should read: “I’m NOT saying it will happen”
Hugo, in the case of Rossi, I very much doubt impatience will be a factor. His shy and reserved nature makes it unlikely for someone like him to be disgruntled at not receiving a call for the senior Azzurri team. If you read my Giuseppe Rossi profile article, he said so himself, and I quote:
My main goal is to try my hardest and attempt to score, I try to not to think about the rest. The Azzurri squad is a dream for me at the moment, I must remain with my feet on the ground and continue to work hard. (…) I don’t know if it’s too soon to receive a phone call from Donadoni, but I’m not worried”.
Americans should just let it go, because it’s not going to happen.
I agree. I think he can wait another few years before deciding. Hopefully he’ll get an answer from Italy before the 2010 WC.
good interesting article but dude that last line of your should not have been added
gretest country huh what a joke
Its absurd to suggest that Giuseppe should now choose the USA over Italy because a Serie A club didn’t buy him or that he’s not yet been called up!
As you have said, he has already represented Italy at all of the Azzurrini levels - meaning he has made his choice about which nation he wants to represent.
He is still young, and has just about finished his U-21 assignment. It has almost been a policy of the senior team in recent years to choose players that have experience, that’s why we don’t have too mnay youngsters in our squad.
He only played the second half of last season at Parma, before that he struggled to get into the Manchester United and Newcastle United starting XI. However, he has started well this season for Villarreal in La Liga.
If he keeps up that form, in a year or two, after the current qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 and the Finals themselves next June, I think he will be called up for the National team ahead of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Playing for the USA is out of the question!
I’ve just read your article fully, and the first reply was just a reaction to the opening paragraphs!
The time has come when Giuseppe Rossi has to make yet another important decision. He has already made his decision by playing for all of the Azzurrini teams.
After his transfer from English power Manchester United to Spain’s Villareal, Rossi certainly had to be disappointed that no Serie A club acquired him. Apparently nine goals in 19 games to help save Parma from relegation was not enough for anyone to put forward the 10 million euros it cost Spanish club Villareal to buy Rossi. Plenty of Serie A clubs would’ve signed him but i’m sure you will be aware that the current financial climate in Serie A isn’t good, so they didn’t want to risk it on one player who has only been able to show a little bit of form at Parma. He has definate potential, but in England he didn’t exactly break into the Man Utd or newcastle teams?
Although times are changing, Italy general does not select very many national team players that play outside of Serie A, especially those who are not already fixtures in the national team. That’s because most of the top Italian’s have been playing in Serie A. Only after the World Cup and last years Calciopoli scandal, some left.
Before he is eligible to buy a beer in the U.S., he will have played in all three of the top leagues in the world –the English Premership, Serie A and Spain’s La Liga. With Villareal, he is playing for a team that was playing in the UEFA Champions League semifinals just two seasons ago. And there is a clause in his contract allowing Manchester United to repurchase him in the future if it chooses to do so. How can you expect Rossi do be in the Italy line-up if he wasn’t in the Manchester United XI? Also, Villarreal aren’t a big club either. They might’ve played in the Champions League a few years ago but they’re not a top club.
Rossi can be a world class player without ever stepping foot in Italy again. Therefore, it would seem like a good idea if Rossi bailed on Italy and decided to play for New Jersey-native Bob Bradley, the U.S. National Team coach. With the U.S., Rossi would move into the starting lineup from day one. He certainly has potential to be a real star if he keeps up his current form at Villarreal. There is no doubt the US have a smaller pool of players and therefore Rossi would almost certainly get in straight away, but he has stated Italy is who he wants to represent. After all, he came to Italy (Europe) as a teenager, and hasn’t gone back since!
My advice to Rossi would be to play for the U.S. He was born here, and not given the treatment he deserves in Italy. He should make Italy and its clubs realize it made a huge mistake by not buying him, and keeping him at home on the peninsula. So what was the bad treatment he has recieved from Italy? Plus the fact, Manchester United didn’t want to sell him withouth the option of signing him again, some Italian clubs (like Juventus) moved away.
And after all, playing for the greatest country in the world isn’t exactly something to frown upon.
LOL
Marco - I said I didn’t think it would happen because I imagined Rossi would be patient enough. What more do you want from me?
And it’s not like he’s some emblematic Griselda-like character who will wait endlessly. He showed some amount of impatience when moving from United this summer, did he not?
Here is a post from a journalist, Ives Galarcep, who knows Rossi’s father. Fernando Rossi coached in New Jersey for many years. I believe that he coached Danny Szetela (US U-20s and recently of Racing Santander) in high school and/or the youth ranks.
http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2007/10/the-deal-with-g.html
Here is another link that discusses Giuseppe and Fernando by the same journalist:
“For those of you who are outside of Jersey, here’s my background with Rossi. His father Fernando was the head coach for the Clifton boy’s soccer team, the best team in my newspaper’s coverage area. I got to know Fernando for a few years having covered him and quickly learned of his son the prodigy. Fernando would run Giuseppe through intense drills on a regular basis and really did hone his skills. Giuseppe used to kick the ball around with Clifton’s varsity at times and never did look out of place (except for being smaller and younger than Clifton’s players.)
I only spoke to Giuseppe a handful of times but it was definitely clear that the kid loved his father and based on that connection I can understand why he wants to fulfill his father’s dream of playing for Italy.”
http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2007/01/man_u_sends_ros.html
I’ve heard that one before Steve. I’ve also heard the one that Rossi’s father’s been “brainwashing” him to play for Italy. It’s just so funny to me to see what some people will invent, to get over the disappointment that Rossi won’t be playing for the US anytime soon.
It seems to me that Rossi’s old enough to make his own decisions. I won’t pretend to know the Rossi family better than Ives Galarcep, but at any rate I am sure Rossi’s future decision (assuming it’s still in doubt… which I believe it isn’t) will be weighing in many more different factors than the sole goal of “fulfilling his father’s dream of playing for Italy”.
By the way, in case anyone’s wondering I should point out that I didn’t write comments #8 and #9, that’s another Marco.
There’s a fairly compelling commercial reason for Rossi to choose the US.
Freddy Adu was making about $2M/Y from his off-the-field activities. Rossi is capable of earning a lot more than that. He is unlikely to make that in Europe, which is a market divided by cultures and languages, if no longer borders.
One potential development to keep one’s eye on is the future of two coaches - Manchester United’s assistant Carlos Queiroz and the current US coach Bob Bradley. Queiroz was a rumored candidate for the US job a year ago. Bradley has lost five matches in a row. Queiroz has a long-standing connection to Rossi - though incidentally so does Bob via his former Princeton job - and he may be an important factor in the decision making process.
If he is smart, he would choose the U.S. team. This guy will be first choice forward for the U.S. senior team within 3 years because:
1. His skills are great
2. More importantly, the biggest negative fo the U.S. is consistency from the forward spot. Neither Donovan, Ching, Johnson or Twellman appear to be the answer and Jozy Altidore is still two years away from being seriously considered for a Starting XI on the national stage.
If Rossi really wants to prove himself to the world and earn playing caps, he will choose the U.S. he has the chance to revitalize a program that is waiting for its big shot at glory, and he will be the principal player of that squad within the next 5 years if he does so. To be able to play with Altidore up top in the future, he will definitely be happier bringing the U.S. up the international ropes than hoping he can get some emaningful minutes for the Italians.
@ 9 Marco:
There’s a big difference in playing for the lower levels of the Azurri national team than playing for the senior team itself. Although most up and comers would be playing for their respective countries, Rossi has clearly demonstrated a character trait to compete among the best. The youth levels in Italy are superior to those of the United States, and it is possible he wanted to earn a greater challenge. The fact is, playing for those youth level teams hasn’t yet earned him an Italian cap, so that is why we are having this debate.
“Rossi certainly had to be disappointed that no Serie A club acquired him.”
I guess this is of little importance, but still, the proper term is “to sign” a player. Players are “acquired” in the NBAs and NHLs of this world, while football players are signed.
So if he’s that good, why didn’t he play in the Manchester United starting XI. You can’t really expect Italy - World Champions - to pick him if he wasn’t playing for the club side regularly.
Yes, since the second half of last season at Parma and now Villarreal (all of 2007 - in other words!) he’s been brilliant but he wasn’t really going to break into the team during a campaign that had already kicked off (Euro 2008) and with competition in the attackers department from Toni, Del Piero, Gilardino etc.. He was also still a major player for the U21 team at the Euro Championships in the Netherlands - which took place this summer.
He’s time will come after this Euro campaign if his form continues - no doubt. I am 100% he will be named in the squad for that first World Cup qualifier for the Azzurri next year!
Every Italian (and half-Italian in this case) understands that a player who wants to represent the Azzurri in the senior team must go through the Azzurrini levels. He has just completed that, he’s not eligible for the next U21 Euro Champs in 2009, and will now be in the list of names that will be looked at when a senior squad is named.
For example, look at another promising Italian youngster - Alberto Aquilani. A lot of people wanted him in the squad much earlier than he was because of his performances for Roma and the U-21’s team. He wasn’t called up until after the World Cup in 2006 at the age of 22 (he’s unfortunately injured - so he’s out of the next match on Saturday).
The USA would’ve picked Rossi right now because he’s playing in a top European league and doing well, and because the US have a much smaller pool of players that the Azzurri have!
But he has made up his minds! And he will play for Italy. He moved to Europe, as the blogger said, at the age of 12 and he is not going to go back and play for the USA and travel between the two continents.
Also, quite a lot of posters since have said, he will get more money. Why? The national team don’t may wages? The clubs do - if he’s a top player he will move to a top club and will get plenty of money? Is that what a footballer should look at to play for a national team - i’m going to make more off-the-field money in another nation so I should go their? Just absurd! If that is the sort of person Rossi is, as an Italian, I would be quite happy for him to go to USA. We don’t want a “Beckham” in the Italian national team.
And about Freddy Adu - exactly how many games has he played for the US? I thought he was supposed to be the next big star. He might be earning the dollors, but if he’s not performing on the pitch (as you see with his sideway move from one MLS club to another MLS club), he’s not going to get into a Manchester United? Should Rossi follow his path?
Marco,
I actually like your comments about my article and can’t say I disagree with them. All of your points are valid. When I wrote this piece was right after Villareal bought him — and I was trying to appeal to an American audience.
Since then I’ve had a chance to learn even more about Rossi. I knew his father was smart, but I didn’t realize how smart.
Any smart person knows that if your kid has potential that you bring them to a team like Parma, Empoli, Atalanta or Brescia for development. If you go to one of the ‘big’ teams one’s chances of making it drop considerably. Rossi’s father was VERY SMART. He was also VERY SMART by bringing his kid to Manchester United, because he knows some Italian teams don’t give kids a chance to move up and Manchester United was more willing.
I will say I’m not against Rossi playing for Italy. I welcome him. He’s like me - an Italian whose parents were born in Italy.
I think if he picks Italy he should do it because it is what is best for his career. It is obvious that the development of soccer in Italy is centuries better than it is in the U.S.
The fact that he is still with the U-21 with Italy is positive in that he isn’t going to be rushed and have all these expectations on him. With the U.S. he’d be pushed into the first team, and naturally all the expectations would come along with it.
Rossi Should play for the US simply because hes a Perfect fit into the upcoming genration on Freedy Adu,Danny szetela, Sal Zizzo, Gabriel Ferrari,Chris Seitz ,Jozy Altidore,Sarkodie Ofori and a host of other and the 2010 or 2014 world cup would land him the perfect stage to shine and may be the world cup look back at this past Under 20 world cup in canada he was the missing link for the US and Italy didn’t even qualify if he had played for the US we would have easily gottten past Austria and probably won the Whole thing
It comes down to this:
1. Playing on a team that has the 2nd best football history in the world
2. Playing with the greatest generation of same-country footballers maybe ever
Szetela 20 Spains La Liga (Rossi’s friend since childhood)
Adu 18 Portugal La Liga
Rogers 20 MLS
Bradley 20 Eredivisie
Altidore 18 MLS (offers from all the top leagues)
Ferrari 19 Serie A
Sarkodie 19 college
Bates 17 US Developmental Program
Spector 21 EPL
Edu 21 MLS
Nguyen 20 Eredivisie
Seitz 20 MLS
Lambo 17 US Developmental Progam (Everton bound)
Sprinkle that with players that are 22-23, Feilhaber, Kljestan, Johnson, Davies, Hill, Zizzo, McCarty, etc.
There is something special about playing for a country that has so much history. There is something really special about making history.
whoever wrote this story is a pooft. Rossi is still young an why would he want to play for the US national team. Rossi if he continues to get better will certainly get a call up to Italy’s national team. Once again whoever wrote the tory is a pooft
The US is an up and coming team. I think the majority of the hate on this blog comes from things that have nothing to do with football, which in itself is sad, because I’m pretty sure that whatever the US has “done” has no affect on any of you unless you’re of Middle Eastern background. (If you are, I personally apologize) To say that the US just sucks and then leave it at that is both ignorant and unfair. If anyone wants to argue this with me, http://www.statesidefooty.com is where you should go. I’ll go all day. It just pisses me off to see comments like this, and all of them for no reason.
To summarize the article: Rossi should play for the US because it’d be real cool for the *US* to have have him. Oh and because Rossi would get some endorsements.
And here are my reasons why Rossi should wait a few more years (to be selected for the Azzurri) before deciding to play for the US:
1) He’s good enough to play for Italy; and Italy > USA (in terms of football atleast :P)
2) He can dream of winning a World Cup or a European Championship.
3) He has already played for the U-18 and U-21 Italy teams and so he already has a good understanding with players like Quagliarella, Aquilani, Pazzini and Palladino who will all soon be major players in the senior squad too.
If you think from Rossi’s point of view, and the USA’s, it’s pretty obvious who he should play for.
^^oops. I meant “If you think from Rossi’s point of view, and NOT the USA’s, it’s pretty obvious who he should play for.”