Canadian Dual Nationals 2.0 Edition, Chase for the 5 stars

[InglewoodJack]

19 minutes ago, jordan said:

https://x.com/450gla/status/1731751267397992780?s=46&t=KtwBDROwUH8sPUlYu2GlIA 

This is posted mentioning a Ivorian Canadian mom.

 

controversy section on Wikipedia doesn’t look good

Yeah, he sounds like a complete scumbag. We need all the players we can get, but those offenses are pretty serious.

Looks like he’s still very much in the French set up. Scored a goal for the U21s against Belgium. He actually scored 18 open play goals in Ligue 1 last year, more than David. 
 

Very good player, not a very good guy it seems. “Lucky” for us, he‘s good enough to play for France. 

[Nate3322]

It's fake. The news article the guy was citing was edited to make it say he was Canadian when it's not true. The bottom screenshot is of the original news article and the top one is the fake image saying he's Canadian.

This whole thing has been debunked I think 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Nate3322

[jordan]

3 minutes ago, Nate3322 said:

It's fake. The news article the guy was citing was edited to make it say he was Canadian when it's not true. The bottom screenshot is of the original news article and the top one is the fake image saying he's Canadian.

This whole thing has been debunked I think 

Thanks! Deleted my post

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Will say this here as well, even if we ultimately don't care.

Drill down a bit before you judge him.  Personally not judging him either way but the stuff in Wikipedia is both not the full story and parts may not be true. 

 

I went down this rabbit hole when he was linked with West Ham.

The details of the school thing are from that huge expose piece done by Romain Molina, a number of the details in it are unproved or have been proven false. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Atlantic]

Even if he was eligible (someone made this up for attention), he isn't giving up on playing for France at 20 years old. He's a solid Ligue 1 striker (despite the subpar start to the season). 

[Obinna]

3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I hope you are right but the cynic in me has a more believe-it-when-I-see-it mentality.  

I am with you on the cynicism, but at what point do we blame the players for being naive? 

Also, I would like to think him coming to North America boosts our chances IF the reason was to get out from under Hagi, though I feel that narrative probably has little to no truth in it.

[dyslexic nam]

Just now, Obinna said:

I am with you on the cynicism, but at what point do we blame the players for being naive? 

Also, I would like to think him coming to North America boosts our chances IF the reason was to get out from under Hagi, though I feel that narrative probably has little to no truth in it.

Whatever the truth in terms of motive, a bit of distance between him and Romania isn’t a bad thing for our chances.  

I genuinely hope he is leaning towards a switch.   Cynically ignoring him after the most obvious cap-tie probably didn’t help Romania’s cause - but I a still skeptical.  I came up with a very strong, reasonable argument why Tomori should switch too, but in the end that amounted to exactly nothing.   Thus my lack of interest in investing any emotional currency in a guy who has already chosen someone else until he demonstrates otherwise.   
 

[Bigandy]

56 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Whatever the truth in terms of motive, a bit of distance between him and Romania isn’t a bad thing for our chances.  

I genuinely hope he is leaning towards a switch.   Cynically ignoring him after the most obvious cap-tie probably didn’t help Romania’s cause - but I a still skeptical.  I came up with a very strong, reasonable argument why Tomori should switch too, but in the end that amounted to exactly nothing.   Thus my lack of interest in investing any emotional currency in a guy who has already chosen someone else until he demonstrates otherwise.   
 

He'll switch. Both him and Jebbo are going to commit at some point. We will lose kolo and then its a coin toss with sigur. 

[dyslexic nam]

32 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

He'll switch. Both him and Jebbo are going to commit at some point. We will lose kolo and then its a coin toss with sigur. 

Given what I know about the likelihood of Koleosho choosing us, I would take the scenario.   

[Bigandy]

2 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Given what I know about the likelihood of Koleosho choosing us, I would take the scenario.   

I think id trade sali, jebbo and sigur for koleosho tho...

[dyslexic nam]

6 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

I think id trade sali, jebbo and sigur for koleosho tho...

Yeah but I think the actual odds for Koleosho sit around 5%.  Bird in the hand and all that.  

[InglewoodJack]

8 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

I think id trade sali, jebbo and sigur for koleosho tho...

We already have a Koleosho at home (Jayden Nelson)

[MauditYvon]

I was thinking of Farsi after his awful pass that led to Cincinnati first goal last night. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but why we wish he commits? We never play ZBG, and he’s obviously not even close of Johnston Laryea Buchanan. 

[nolando]

22 minutes ago, MauditYvon said:

I was thinking of Farsi after his awful pass that led to Cincinnati first goal last night. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but why we wish he commits? We never play ZBG, and he’s obviously not even close of Johnston Laryea Buchanan. 

One word: depth.

[InglewoodJack]

13 hours ago, MauditYvon said:

I was thinking of Farsi after his awful pass that led to Cincinnati first goal last night. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but why we wish he commits? We never play ZBG, and he’s obviously not even close of Johnston Laryea Buchanan. 

Because him and JRR looked like Jordan and Pippen in NextPro last year.

[narduch]

 

 

[Obinna]

They have been talking about Baldisimo forever. I will believe it when I see it.

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

They have been talking about Baldisimo forever. I will believe it when I see it.

Fair enough - but neither is any closer to getting a call up to the Nats, so they may ultimately be choosing to play international footy in the short term vs waiting for an unlikely call from Canada.  

[The Real Marc]

If I were them I'd make the leap - Metcalfe's not in the frame, Baldisimo albeit closer is a very marginal Nat - but The Philippines has a history of capping all sorts of players and it hasn't led to notable WCQ success. Lots of travel, being away from your club...

[InglewoodJack]

I’m fine with those, and hope all those guys get a crack with the Philippines. With how large their diaspora is, I think they can build a semi decent squad, and with the expanded World Cup, I think they owe it to themselves to make a real run at qualifying. As long as their list doesn’t include a one Mathieu Choiniere, we’re good. 

[dyslexic nam]

38 minutes ago, The Real Marc said:

If I were them I'd make the leap - Metcalfe's not in the frame, Baldisimo albeit closer is a very marginal Nat - but The Philippines has a history of capping all sorts of players and it hasn't led to notable WCQ success. Lots of travel, being away from your club...

not sure we can argue against the chance to play international Footy just because there is a lot of travel involved and slim chance of success. You literally just described Canada for most of the last 30 years.

 

[Obinna]

I know the decision of declaring a NT can sometimes be a sentimental and personal one, but @The Real Marc hits on some real disadvantages for the Philippines. If there is no real shot at making noise, how much of a pull is there? Jamaica for instance has some travel inconveniences, arguably to a lesser extent, but they are far easier sell because the player pool and the history they have. Sure, the World Cup is expanded, but I still am not convinced they are close. They are ranked 140, so maybe Suriname is the better comparison, but they are a football nation in a way that Philippines are not. 

The guy who plays in the Turkish Super Lig is probably the guy playing in the best club envionrment, or arguably the defender at Grasshoppers. After that you could argue it's Baldisimo at San Jose, who doesn't play much. And to add, they are probably going out of WCQ in the 2nd round:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_AFC_second_round

It should be Iraq and Vietnam, who are ranked 94th. 

[dyslexic nam]

3 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I know the decision of declaring a NT can sometimes be a sentimental and personal one, but @The Real Marc hits on some real disadvantages for the Philippines. If there is no real shot at making noise, how much of a pull is there? Jamaica for instance has some travel inconveniences, arguably to a lesser extent, but they are far easier sell because the player pool and the history they have. Sure, the World Cup is expanded, but I still am not convinced they are close. They are ranked 140, so maybe Suriname is the better comparison, but they are a football nation in a way that Philippines are not. 

The guy who plays in the Turkish Super Lig is probably the guy playing in the best club envionrment, or arguably the defender at Grasshoppers. After that you could argue it's Baldisimo at San Jose, who doesn't play much. And to add, they are probably going out of WCQ in the 2nd round:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_AFC_second_round

It should be Iraq and Vietnam, who are ranked 94th. 

It is not always just about career advancement. The guys we are talking about aren’t playing champions league or other elite competitions. They are grinding away because they love the sport and are hoping to make a living out of it. The chance to play international Footy is just another part of that and as cliché as it sounds, I think a lot of guys would do it just for the love of the sport. The chance to play with a whole new team in a whole new system and a whole new environment? To a young player that probably still sounds pretty exciting. Obviously as professionals they would have to weigh that against the chance of injury, the inconvenience of travel, etc. but overall I could see guys at that age just wanting to try it out.

[Obinna]

6 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Obviously as professionals they would have to weigh that against the chance of injury, the inconvenience of travel, etc. but overall I could see guys at that age just wanting to try it out.

And the chance to progress with their club too. Sometimes going away with your national team can help you, but in this particular case I am not sure it does because there is little chance of making any noise, at least as far as I can see. Not an expert on them by any means, but they don't seem to be in a good spot and I don't see much hope on the horizon. 

[InglewoodJack]

Someone posted a long thread of CONCACAF dual nationals in European academies and there are a couple names I don’t know. Anyone familiar? 
 

In particular, that Michael Zeppieri kid looks like he’s having a heater of a season. 

https://x.com/usmntreport/status/1736298137692631508?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

Tiago Codinha - CAM- FC Twente U21 (2005) - CAN/NED

Giuseppe Muffolini - Striker - de Graafschap U18 (2005) - CAN/ITA

Jeremy Mahn - Stuttgart U18 (2007) 

Ruben Richards - CF- Estoril U23 (2004)

Massimo Gatto - Pescara U19 (scored a goal in the Primavera B against ascoli earlier this year)

Michael Zeppieri - Pescara U19 (12G in 14 games including a hat trick against Spezia last week- currently 3rd in the entire 2nd div of Italian youth football) 

Dante Lomangino - Perugia U19 (3 goals this season)

Christian Lisi -  Crotone U19 - GK (seems to be their backup but also plays)

* this is actually the keeper that Damar Dixon scored both his goals against 

Ismael Cajazzo - Rotonda (Série D) - 2003- RM (4G/2A this season)

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by InglewoodJack