Teal Bunbury has accepted the call for the United States. He will be part of the squad that will be going to South Africa to play in a friendly.
The move does not cap tie him to the US, but Canadians should put thoughts of Alex's kid playing for the red and white out of their mind. This isn't Jonathon de Guzman we are talking about here. It's a pretty raw MLS striker that is a borderline prospect for both the U.S. and Canada. Maybe he'll turn out good. Maybe. Since he's decided that he'd rather try his luck in the American set-up Canadians should wish him luck and move on.
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Speaking personally, I don't at all feel betrayed by Bunbury's decision. He's an American. His mother is American and he grew up in the United States. He spent more time in Portugal growing up than he did in Canada. I fully understand his desire to play for the US. The decision isn't a cynical one made by, say, a kid from Alberta that moved to Germany when he was 14 and then decided to play for a country he had never set foot in prior to putting on its strip.
Where I do have a bit of an issue with Teal is that it's pretty damn clear that he told me a baldfaced lie on It's Called Football last week. I asked whether he had talked to the U.S. national team set-up. He said no. A week later he's called up?
Bull****.
He's a kid though and it was a sensitive topic so I'll let it pass. But if Teal or someone close to him is reading though let me offer you a bit of advice.
The reaction to your decision would have been 100 times better if you had just told the truth.
Note: Since Bunbury has declared for the U.S. he will be considered an American when I report. Therefore he'll be talked about in the context of MLS, but not as an international. Since not many five goal MLS players that aren't in Toronto get talked about, this will likely be the last post on him. That isn't out of spite. It's a pragmatic decision of focus. I didn't report Owen Hargreaves' short lived comeback because he's English now. So long as Bunbury is American, there are plenty of fine places out there that will cover him as such.
I'm clarifying this because it's my general policy on such matters and God knows we will deal with this again.